猶他州奧勒姆市（美聯社） — 保守派活動家、唐納德·川普總統的親密盟友查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk）週三在猶他州一所大學的活動中遭槍擊身亡。該州州長稱這起事件為一場「政治暗殺」。
猶他州州長斯潘塞·科克斯（Spencer Cox）表示，一名「嫌疑人」已於週三晚間被拘留，但尚未宣布任何指控。
科克斯稱這起謀殺案為「政治暗殺」，並表示：「對我們州來說，這是個黑暗的日子。」
他補充道：「我們正在積極尋找任何與槍擊案相關的人，以及任何有資訊的人。」
猶他州當局表示，槍手身著深色衣物，從校園內距離柯克一段距離的屋頂開槍。
川普在社群媒體上宣布了柯克的死訊，並讚揚這位 31 歲、身為青年組織「美國轉捩點」（Turning Point USA）共同創辦人兼執行長的柯克「偉大，甚至是傳奇」。
川普在他的「真實社交」（Truth Social）帳號上發文說：「沒有人比查理更了解或更關心美國的年輕人。」
猶他州奧勒姆市市長大衛·楊（David Young）表示，嫌疑槍手尚未被逮捕。一名知情人士透露，執法部門在柯克發表演講的大學拘留的一名人士並非嫌疑人。該人士因未獲授權公開發言而要求匿名。
社群媒體上流傳的猶他谷大學（Utah Valley University）影片顯示，柯克當時正坐在一個印有「美國東山再起」（The American Comeback）和「來反駁我啊」（Prove Me Wrong）口號的白色帳篷下，手持麥克風發言。隨後響起一聲槍響，柯克被拍到用右手扶著頸部左側，大量鮮血湧出。目瞪口呆的旁觀者發出驚呼和尖叫，隨後人們四散奔逃。美聯社證實這些影片是在猶他谷大學的索倫森中心（Sorensen Center）庭院拍攝的。
當時柯克正在他創辦的非營利政治組織所舉辦的一場辯論會上發表演講。槍擊發生前，柯克正在回答一名觀眾關於大規模槍擊和槍枝暴力的問題。
一名觀眾問：「你知道在過去十年裡，有多少跨性別美國人是大規模槍擊案的槍手嗎？」柯克回答：「太多了。」
提問者接著追問：「你知道在過去十年裡，美國發生了多少起大規模槍擊案嗎？」
柯克反問：「算不算幫派暴力？」
就在此時，一聲槍響劃破天際。
猶他谷大學表示，校園已立即疏散並關閉，課程將無限期取消。校方要求仍在校園內的人員原地待命，直到警官能安全護送他們離開。武裝警官在校園周邊社區巡邏，敲門並詢問有關槍手的信息。
有警官被拍到正在查看手機上的一張照片，並向人們展示，看是否有人能認出這名嫌疑人。
這場被宣傳為柯克「美國東山再起之旅」首站的活動，在校園內引發了兩極化的反應。一份要求校方禁止柯克發表演講的網路請願書獲得了近 1,000 個簽名。但該大學上週發表聲明，援引美國憲法第一修正案的權利，並重申其「對言論自由、學術探討和建設性對話的承諾」。
上週，柯克在 X 平台上發布了新聞報導的截圖，顯示他的猶他州大學之行引發了爭議。他寫道：「猶他州是怎麼了？」
這起槍擊案引發了兩黨的迅速譴責。民主黨官員與川普一起，譴責這起暴力事件。川普下令降半旗致哀並發表了總統公告。
民主黨籍加州州長加文·紐森（Gavin Newsom）去年三月曾邀請柯克在他的播客節目中作客，他在 X 平台上發文說：「對查理·柯克的襲擊令人作嘔、卑鄙且應受譴責。」
曾在 2011 年亞利桑那州選區的一次槍擊案中受傷的前民主黨國會議員加布里埃爾·吉福茲（Gabrielle Giffords）表示：「查理·柯克的謀殺讓我心碎。我向他的妻子、兩個年幼的孩子和朋友們致以最深切的同情。」
儘管當局尚未公布動機，但這起槍擊案的發生背景加劇了人們的擔憂，即這是一系列跨越政治光譜的政治暴力事件中的一部分。這些襲擊包括六月一名明尼蘇達州州議員及其丈夫在自家被暗殺、科羅拉多州的一場遊行被投擲汽油彈（以要求哈馬斯釋放人質），以及四月賓夕法尼亞州州長（一位猶太人）的住宅被人縱火。其中最臭名昭著的事件是去年川普在一次競選集會上遭槍擊。
前猶他州共和黨籍國會議員傑森·查菲茨（Jason Chaffetz）當時也在現場，他在福克斯新聞頻道的一次採訪中表示，他聽到一聲槍響，然後看到柯克倒下。
查菲茨在發言時顯得有些驚魂未定，他說：「這似乎是一次近距離射擊。」
他表示，活動現場的警力不多，柯克雖然有保全，但人手不足。
他說：「猶他州是地球上最安全的地方之一。所以我們這裡通常不會發生這種事。」
「美國轉捩點」是由當時 18 歲的柯克和茶黨活動家威廉·蒙哥馬利（William Montgomery）於 2012 年在芝加哥郊區創立的，旨在向大學校園宣揚低稅和有限政府的理念。該組織起初並未立即獲得成功。
然而，柯克對抗學術界自由派的熱情最終贏得了一批有影響力的保守派金融家支持。
儘管一開始有所疑慮，但在川普於 2016 年鎖定共和黨提名後，「美國轉捩點」便熱情地支持他。在普選期間，柯克曾擔任川普總統長子小唐納德·川普（Donald Trump Jr.）的私人助理。
很快，柯克成為有線電視台的常客，他在節目中深入參與文化戰爭，並對時任總統讚不絕口。川普及其兒子也同樣熱情，並經常在「美國轉捩點」的會議上發表演講。
（本報導由 Richer 和 Sherman 從華盛頓發回。美聯社記者 Nicholas Riccardi 於丹佛、以及 Michael Biesecker、Brian Slodysko、Lindsay Whitehurst、Michelle L. Price 和 Eric Tucker 於華盛頓也對此報導有所貢獻。）
原文出處 apnews
===
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk fatally shot in act of ‘political assassination’ at Utah college
OREM, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that the state’s governor called a “political assassination.”
A “person of interest” was in custody Wednesday evening, said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, though no charges were immediately announced.
“This is a dark day for our state,” Cox said, calling the killing a “political assassination.”
“We are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any information related to the shooting,” he said.
Utah authorities said the shooter wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
The suspected shooter has not been arrested, Orem, Utah, Mayor David Young said. A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out.
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
Officers have been seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognize a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with Democratic officials joining Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
Though no motive has been disclosed, the circumstances of the shooting fueled concerns that it was part of a spike of political violence that has cut across the political spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
__
Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.