Moments before the crack of a gunshot changed everything, thousands of students had gathered under clear blue skies at an idyllic Utah college to hear from a man considered a rock star in conservative campus politics.
As the 31-year-old Charlie Kirk sat under a tent, debating political opponents taking their turn at a microphone, many gathered on the lawns cheered – and some protested. Seconds later, they were all running in terror.
The activist was struck in the neck by a bullet, mortally wounded. The episode playing out as cameras rolled, some showing the murder in bloody detail.
The images will be hard to forget - particularly for the many young conservatives for whom Kirk held celebrity status. The leader of their movement, regardless of the ultimate motive behind his killing, will now be viewed as a martyr for the cause.
Kirk, in the past, had warned of what he said was the threat of violence from his critics – of which he had many, given his provocative style of conservativism. Nonetheless he was willing to travel to college campuses, where the politics frequently tilt to the left, and debate all comers.
He was an advocate of gun rights and conservative values, an outspoken critic of transgender rights, and a staunch, unapologetic Donald Trump supporter. His Turning Point US organisation played a key role in the voter turnout drive that saw the president return to the White House this year.
The tent where he was shot had prove me wrong emblazoned on it. Kirk's killing is both another episode of shocking gun violence in America – and the latest in an ever-lengthening line of recent political violence.
Earlier this year two Democratic state legislators in Minnesota were shot in their homes – with one dying from her wounds. Last year, Donald Trump was twice the target of assassination attempts. His brush with a bullet at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, bears striking similarities to Kirk's shooting – both playing out before gathered crowds at outdoor venues.
Violence begets violence. Increasingly divisive rhetoric, fueled by social media echo chambers and easy access to firearms, leads to raw nerves and a heightened potential for bloodshed.
Trump, in a video address from the Oval Office posted on his Truth Social website on Wednesday night, called the killing a dark moment for America while blaming the radical left for Kirk's murder. His remarks echoed calls from conservative activists who demanded a crackdown on left-wing groups.
Many prominent Republicans and Democrats condemned the violence while calling for a cooling of rhetoric, but the tension was palpable in Congress, indicative of the ongoing partisan divide.
In emotional remarks during a press conference, Governor Spencer Cox of Utah questioned the state of the nation, expressing despair over the trajectory of American politics. Is this what 250 years has wrought upon us? he asked, highlighting the urgent need for reflection and change amid a backdrop of increasing violence.
