The man who spoke with Charlie Kirk just as he was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday was asking him about violence from the left. It’s a grim irony when you consider what happened in the moments after that.
Now, he’s speaking out about his appearance, noting that “the point I was trying to make is how peaceful the left was” and that it “only makes sense if we stay peaceful.”
While it’s not certain what the shooter’s motivation was — he has not been captured as of early Friday morning — it’s fairly clear that either the shooter was a leftist or is making an attempt at deception. According to reports, authorities have reportedly confirmed that messages inscribed inside the cartridges of the gun used to kill Kirk bore “transgender” and “anti-fascist” themes.
This makes Hunter Kozak, a left-winger from Utah, the unfortunate poster child for the lies of the left when responding to Kirk’s death. Kozak was asking him a question about violence in America when the sniper shot Kirk, 31, in the neck.
“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” Kozak asked him.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responded.
Then the shots rang out and all hell broke loose.
Kozak is obviously traumatized; anyone who was there would be, but him especially so. However, as Kozak pointed out in his video after the shooting, he’d been on social media aggressively calling Kirk out for saying that transgenderism was linked to mass murderers of Christian students in both Nashville and Minneapolis.
He also noted that Kirk “was touring America, and touring universities specifically,” including, as it so happened, the university he was going to. Utah Valley University.
Do you think this will wake up others who were flirting with the left but now realize it’s the side of evil?
We all know what happened next — and Kozak had a message for whoever might be excusing this.
“First off, you sick f***ing psychos that think this is the answer … it’s not. I don’t know what else to say. It’s f***ing not,” he said, crying.
“And a father — he doesn’t have his kids anymore. Charlie had two kids and a wife. And, not to make this about me, but I have two kids and a wife. If my one-year-old boy — like, his one-year-old boy will grow up without memories of his dad.”
“It’s a tragedy and it’s hard to grapple with,” he said. “People have obviously pointed to the irony that point that I was trying to make was how peaceful the left is. Right before he got shot. And that only makes sense if we stay peaceful.
“As much as I disagree with Charlie Kirk — I’m on the record for how much I disagree with him — but like, man, dude, he is still a human being. Have we forgotten that?
“I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was conversation.”
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers will find offensive.
I was talking to Charlie as he died. I made a video about it here. I hope his family and loved ones are safe ❤️ pic.twitter.com/taJiyrcXot
— hunter 🧦🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@staxioms) September 11, 2025
Speaking to The New York Times, the TikTokker said that Kirk was amenable to debate, as well.
“I wanted to challenge him,” the 29-year-old Kozak said. “He went with arms open to say, ‘Challenge me, please.’”
“I couldn’t have asked a worse question,” he added.
Unfortunately, yes, he couldn’t have. To point out any irony feels sick and sad right now, but this is kind of the point: The febrile swamps of social media, too long given over to people who demand fealty to the party line. Don’t give it, and they get angry. Don’t cower at their anger, and you get worse.
And even now, the left isn’t learning its lesson. On CNN, Anderson Cooper gave Kozak’s video significant coverage last night. The responses on Instagram? “Anderson stop talking about Charlie Kirk.” “ENOUGH WITH THIS STORY.” “Anderson, tragic as it may be that Mr Kirk was shot and killed but this is drawing to [sic] much attention.”
When the going gets rough thanks to the rough beast the left has fashioned this country into, they beg you to ignore it. You can see the pain in Kozak’s eyes as the realization sets in — that part about the nonviolence, it was all a lie.
One feels for Kozak, one really does. He engaged in Mr. Kirk in good faith. He isn’t part of the violent rabblement that either caused this or excused it. Quite the opposite: He’s holding those who are doing so to account.
It’s unfair that he’s the poster child of the evil that claimed Mr. Cooper’s life, and he ought to be left alone once this sad episode has passed. But the tragic point he inadvertently made shouldn’t be ignored. Perhaps in the end, Charlie Kirk ends up converting the last person he talked to. Even if he doesn’t, someone else, rest assured, will see the lie for what it is.
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