Charlie Kirk paid tribute to a young Ukrainian refugee murdered on American soil just hours before his shocking assassination at a Utah college. On Tuesday evening, Kirk, the influential conservative and founder of Turning Point USA, shared a photo on social media of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, the refugee brutally stabbed on a North Carolina light rail train last month.
In the image, Zarutska appears hunched in her seat, moments before she was allegedly killed in a random attack by Decarlos Brown, a man with a long criminal history and diagnosed schizophrenia. 'America will never be the same,' Kirk wrote in one of his final tweets, just hours before he was gunned down in what Utah's governor has called a 'political assassination.' Kirk's post about Zarutska comes as conservatives pointed to her killing as a symbol of America's collapse under what they described as 'soft-on-crime' justice systems in Democrat-led cities.
A federal indictment was announced on Tuesday in the Zarutska case, elevating Brown's charges to include causing death on a mass transportation system - a federal offense that carries the death penalty. Then came Kirk's impassioned response, highlighting Zarutska's death as a symbol of a country in decline. According to authorities, Zarutska had fled the war in Ukraine and was trying to start a new life in Charlotte. But her life was cut short were shattered when in an unprovoked attack, Brown allegedly slashed her neck with a pocketknife in full view of horrified passengers.
'This was a young woman living the American dream,' said Attorney General Pam Bondi, announcing the charges. 'Her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.'
Kirk, whose post accompanied news coverage of the crime, had long warned about the consequences of criminal leniency, calling America's justice system 'broken beyond repair' in earlier speeches. His post about Zarutska came only a day before his own life was cut short. It was on Wednesday afternoon while Kirk was on stage at Utah Valley University, seated under a white tent adorned with the slogans 'The American Comeback' and 'Prove Me Wrong.'
The event was part of his new tour aimed at rallying young conservatives ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Video footage shows Kirk fielding a question about mass shootings and gun violence when a single gunshot rang out. Kirk tried to reach for his neck as blood pours from the left side. The 31-year-old collapsed on stage as bystanders screamed and fled. Authorities say the shot was fired from a rooftop sniper position nearby, and on Wednesday night a person of interest is in custody.
No motive or charges had been announced as of Wednesday night, but Utah Governor Spencer Cox was unequivocal in his response. 'This is a political assassination. A dark day for our state. A tragic day for our nation,' Cox said. Kirk's death sent shockwaves through political circles on both sides of the aisle. President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post, called Kirk 'Great, and even Legendary,' adding, 'No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.'
Democratic leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gabrielle Giffords, herself a survivor of a political shooting, also condemned the attack. The university canceled all classes and evacuated the campus. Federal and local authorities, including the FBI, are now leading the investigation. Kirk's death, which follows a growing wave of politically motivated violence across the country, has already reignited debate over free speech, security, and the rise of extremist ideologies.
Born in 1993, Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 at just 18 years old. What began as a modest campus outreach effort ballooned into one of the most powerful youth-driven political machines in the country, fueled by culture-war messaging, megadonor support, and Kirk's close alliance with the Trump family. His rise mirrored that of the conservative movement he championed and frequently clashed with critics on college campuses, often appearing on cable news and social media to defend traditional values and condemn progressive policies.