What to know about Charlie Kirk, Trump ally and conservative activist

Kirk, an influential Trump ally who at age 18 set up Turning Point USA, died in a shooting while speaking at a Utah campus event.

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He was shot dead on Wednesday at the age of 31 while hosting a college event for Turning Point USA, the organisation he co-founded, in what police are calling a targeted shooting.

President Donald Trump announced the shocking news of Kirk's death, paying tribute on Truth Social: "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie."

Kirk was seen as both the future of conservative activism - as well as a highly polarising figure.

The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended an Illinois community college before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.