Charlie Kirk Felt No Pain and Never Knew He Was Shot: The Medical Evidence Explained

[00:00] Did Charlie Kirk know what happened to

[00:01] him and did he experience any pain?

[00:04] We're not going to show parts of the

[00:05] video of what happened to him and I

[00:07] don't recommend that you watch it

[00:08] because it's quite graphic.

[00:10] >> Do not go looking for the video of

[00:12] Charlie Kirk. Please, for the love of

[00:13] God, do not go look for that video.

[00:15] >> But I will be generally discussing what

[00:16] happened to better answer the question

[00:18] of whether Charlie knew what happened to

[00:20] him and if he experienced any pain.

[00:22] First, my thoughts and prayers are with

[00:24] Charlie's family and friends. It was

[00:26] September 10th in Oram, Utah. Charlie

[00:28] Kirk was doing one of his famous

[00:29] question and answer rallies at Utah

[00:31] Valley University's campus. The school

[00:33] seems to lean moderate conservative.

[00:35] Charlie had his famous tent set up like

[00:37] he's done countless times at other

[00:39] colleges. How we doing Washington State?

[00:41] How we doing Michigan State? All right,

[00:42] you guys know how it works. If you want

[00:44] to ask a question, we have a line

[00:45] forming here. If you disagree, you can

[00:46] go to the front of the line.

[00:47] >> And there were thousands of people eager

[00:49] to hear Charlie Kirk answer questions

[00:51] from the audience.

[00:52] >> That's a lot of people coming up.

[00:56] [Applause]

[00:59] We're going to be here for a couple

[01:01] hours.

[01:04] >> Hey, comfortable. I'm going to the

[01:06] Charlie Kirk event. The parking lot

[01:09] across the street is slammed. This place

[01:12] is going to be packed. And I knew it

[01:14] would be. I don't know if I'm going to

[01:16] ask a question or anything yet. I got a

[01:17] couple written down. He's been doing

[01:19] this for years, going to different

[01:20] colleges across the country, filming it,

[01:22] putting it on social media, which if you

[01:24] have been at all on social media, I'm

[01:26] sure you have seen.

[01:28] >> Who Who are you?

[01:29] >> Well, enough important enough for you to

[01:31] come up to a microphone. You said,

[01:32] "Well, I'm worried about some laws

[01:34] Congress should pass." I passed. What

[01:35] laws are you talking about?

[01:38] >> Can you be specific?

[01:40] >> I'm sorry. I'm very nervous. And this

[01:42] event at Utah Valley University was his

[01:44] first of the new school year to verbally

[01:47] debate mostly young college students who

[01:49] strongly agree or disagree with him and

[01:52] everything in between. Charlie's Turning

[01:53] Point USA team even did this little Tik

[01:56] Tok skit before the event.

[01:58] >> Okay, guys, we're back. Did you miss us?

[02:01] Cuz we missed you.

[02:03] >> They were so excited that they were

[02:04] starting off another season of Charlie

[02:06] Kirk talking to students at different

[02:08] colleges.

[02:10] Thank you. Bye, guys.

[02:11] >> His next stop was actually Colorado

[02:13] State University on September 18th and I

[02:16] was expecting to go because I live just

[02:18] an hour and a half south of CSU. This is

[02:21] more than an assassination on a

[02:23] political figure. It's an assassination

[02:25] on free speech. No matter what you

[02:27] believe, whether you agree with him 100%

[02:29] of the time, disagree, or whatever, he

[02:32] was just peacefully talking.

[02:33] >> This is the Old West, right? The Holy

[02:35] Spirit brought me here to challenge you

[02:37] to a gentleman's fist fight right here

[02:39] in front of this whole crowd. Now look,

[02:42] listen, listen, listen.

[02:43] >> No, he just wanted to hear varying

[02:45] opinions, debate topics, and give his

[02:47] opinion.

[02:48] >> Young men need a masculine figure around

[02:51] so that they could teach them how to use

[02:53] their violent impulses. A young woman

[02:55] needs a father around so she could see

[02:57] hopefully the type of man one day that

[02:59] she will want to marry.

[03:00] >> So, you think that poverty equals crime?

[03:03] I think that it's um highly correlated

[03:05] and there's a lot of

[03:06] >> This is where we disagree. We need more

[03:08] fathers, not less.

[03:09] >> Yeah, a lot of people disagreed with

[03:11] him, especially on college campuses. But

[03:13] that's what was so interesting.

[03:14] >> Close to being a fascist. Let's go

[03:16] through this. How am I a fascist?

[03:20] >> Dude, like you can you name one thing I

[03:22] believe that's fascist.

[03:23] >> Um you believe that like you

[03:27] >> I'm such a bad fascist. I let the people

[03:29] who disagree open mic to talk to me for

[03:31] 2 hours uninterrupted. Okay, I'm an

[03:33] awful fascist.

[03:34] >> And he really embraced teaching the

[03:35] youth who disagreed with him that it's

[03:37] okay to disagree. Just calmly talk and

[03:40] disagreement over politics should never

[03:42] turn violent.

[03:45] >> ICE,

[03:46] >> what is that?

[03:47] >> Immigration, Customs, Enforcement.

[03:50] >> Hey, don't don't touch it. Have a nice

[03:52] day.

[03:54] >> Let's have a conversation.

[03:56] >> She was wrong. I wish we could be here

[03:58] without having my hat thrown off and

[03:59] stuff, but what what we as a culture

[04:02] have to get back to is being able to

[04:03] have reasonable disagreement where

[04:05] violence is not an option.

[04:06] >> Also, it was interesting that he was

[04:08] going on college campuses as a

[04:10] conservative. You know why? Yeah.

[04:11] Because colleges have historically been

[04:13] known to be quite liberal.

[04:15] >> Campuses are islands of totalitarianism.

[04:17] That's my point is that campuses because

[04:19] they're so homogeneously to the left.

[04:21] >> And he garnered a lot of attention for

[04:23] doing that.

[04:23] >> Come up to the mic and call me a racist

[04:25] in my face. Are you an intellectual

[04:26] coward and want to shout it from 30 ft

[04:27] away? I got to say your protesters are

[04:29] kind of weak here, guys.

[04:30] >> And some colleges have been known to be

[04:32] socially, academically, and even

[04:33] physically dangerous to conservatives on

[04:36] campus.

[04:36] >> It was the most awful thing I've ever

[04:38] seen in my life.

[04:40] And the worst part of it all was the

[04:43] liberals who were there were cheering.

[04:46] >> I've spent a lot of time at many

[04:48] universities and I've seen how dangerous

[04:50] it can be for conservatives on some

[04:53] college campuses. Why are you

[04:54] >> When you stop having a human connection

[04:56] with someone you disagree with, it

[04:58] becomes a lot easier to want to commit

[05:00] violence against that group.

[05:01] >> You think that's not emotional?

[05:02] >> Isn't why we had the First Amendment to

[05:04] try to push our boundaries and to hear

[05:06] things that might make you mildly

[05:08] uncomfortable?

[05:09] >> This doesn't make me mildly

[05:10] uncomfortable.

[05:10] >> Does it make you very uncomfortable?

[05:11] >> It makes me angry.

[05:12] >> Like a lot of people, that's what

[05:13] initially drew my attention to Charlie

[05:15] Kirk. I remember thinking, "Oh no, an

[05:18] openly conservative on a college campus.

[05:21] He's going to get killed." And at the

[05:22] time when I was thinking that, I didn't

[05:24] mean that as hyperbole.

[05:25] >> People like me are facing violence,

[05:28] assault, the left.

[05:31] >> Yes, the campus Antifa. I've been

[05:33] stormed out of restaurants. I've been

[05:34] assaulted publicly, multiple death

[05:36] threats. When people stop talking,

[05:38] that's when you get violence. That's

[05:39] when civil war happens because you start

[05:41] to think the other side is so evil and

[05:42] they lose their humanity.

[05:44] >> What do you think would happen to you if

[05:45] they found out you were a conservative

[05:47] at some colleges? Yes. On some college

[05:49] campuses, you would have no friends.

[05:51] Your car will be keyed, tires slashed,

[05:53] dorm room trashed, get jumped walking

[05:55] home from the library late at night.

[05:57] >> Jay got punched in the face by a

[05:59] professor here.

[06:00] >> He saw my hat. He ripped the hat off my

[06:02] head. Then he grabbed my head and also

[06:04] slammed it on the road pavement.

[06:05] >> And some professors may even try to

[06:07] flunk you out of the school.

[06:09] >> How many of you kids here on campus

[06:10] raise your hand? Do you feel as if

[06:12] you're graded down if you come out as a

[06:14] Trump supporter, a conservative? That is

[06:16] the cultural left that will use power to

[06:19] punish a student with their grades

[06:21] because they have different views.

[06:23] That's fascism. That is definitional

[06:25] fascism.

[06:26] >> Charlie Kirk actually helped to make

[06:28] college campuses safer for conservative

[06:30] students by showing up anyway, speaking

[06:32] openly, and proving that disagreement is

[06:34] healthy. He modeled how to debate firmly

[06:37] but peacefully, which gave young

[06:39] conservatives the courage to also speak

[06:41] their views without fear. I thought it

[06:43] was like a like an improv comedy thing.

[06:45] It looked so ridiculous that I didn't

[06:47] even think it was real.

[06:49] >> Um

[06:50] >> well, no, you could see look how popular

[06:51] Trump is on your campus. How does that

[06:53] make you feel?

[06:55] >> His presence on college campuses force

[06:57] colleges to confront their own

[06:59] prejudices and remind students that free

[07:02] speech belongs to everyone, not just one

[07:04] political side.

[07:06] >> So, I do have a friendship with them.

[07:08] I've gotten them over a couple years.

[07:09] >> I'm closing bias. Disclosing bias. 100%

[07:11] biased. Whether you hate him or love

[07:12] him, why would you hate him or love him?

[07:14] He just has a job to do. Well, I also

[07:15] love what he did as president for the

[07:16] country.

[07:17] >> By normalizing conservative voices in

[07:19] traditionally liberal spaces, he helped

[07:21] create room for a more balanced dialogue

[07:23] and a safer environment for those who

[07:25] once felt silenced.

[07:26] >> The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

[07:28] Saints is more historically accurate

[07:30] than Protestantism.

[07:31] >> Prove me wrong.

[07:33] [Applause]

[07:33] [Music]

[07:37] >> Well, um, you're more aggressive than I

[07:39] would be. First of all, I love Mormons.

[07:40] I've said that forever. Yeah,

[07:43] >> that Jesus Christ was a real person. He

[07:45] lived a perfect life. He was crucified,

[07:48] died, and rose on the third day and he

[07:50] is Lord and God overall.

[07:51] >> Next question.

[07:52] >> On that day when the second questioner

[07:54] was at the microphone and was asking

[07:56] Charlie Kirk questions.

[07:57] >> Okay, now five is a lot, right? I'm

[07:58] going to give you I'm going to give you

[07:59] some credit. Do you do you know how many

[08:01] mass shooters there have been in America

[08:03] over the last 10 years? Counting or not

[08:06] counting? D.

[08:06] >> That's when the single shot was fired.

[08:08] It sadly struck Charlie on the left side

[08:10] of his neck at apparently near his C4C5

[08:13] vertebrae and apparently ruptured his

[08:15] left corateed artery and left jugular

[08:18] vein causing sudden and massive blood

[08:20] loss. The entrance wound was

[08:21] approximately the size of a dime but

[08:23] appeared much larger in footage of the

[08:25] event due to immediate surrounding

[08:28] bleeding. Although there was no clear

[08:29] footage of the exit wound, they tend to

[08:32] be much larger than the entrance wound

[08:34] in flesh. Do you know why? It's because

[08:36] the force of the bullet creates a

[08:38] temporary cavity pushing mass along with

[08:40] it as the bullet exits the body. The

[08:42] bullet was fired from a highowered

[08:44] >> 300 6 round. That is the 30 6 takes down

[08:48] a deer very easily.

[08:49] >> And given the trajectory of the bullet

[08:51] coming from his left, moving downwards

[08:53] to his right. This is where he would

[08:55] have been on his podium. And when she

[08:57] spin it around, this is supposedly where

[08:59] the gunman was. You can see here that it

[09:01] was a perfect line of sight.

[09:06] It's likely that it sadly caused severe

[09:08] spinal cord damage, possibly resulting

[09:10] in instant breathing paralysis due to

[09:13] injury at the C4C5 level, where the

[09:16] nerves that control the diaphragm are

[09:17] located. Often remembered in medicine

[09:19] with the saying C345 keeps the diaphragm

[09:22] alive. When Charlie was struck, the

[09:24] transfer of energy through his body was

[09:26] apparent with his body jolting and his

[09:28] white t-shirt flapping. Both of his arms

[09:30] bent at the elbows, moving instantly

[09:32] towards his chest at just past 90°

[09:34] angles. Sadly followed by him instantly

[09:36] slumping over in his chair to his left,

[09:39] falling to the ground.

[09:41] >> In Oram has had an active shooter at the

[09:43] Charlie Kirk event. We're getting

[09:45] several calls. We're trying to get more

[09:47] information.

[09:48] >> 418. Copy. How many injured? Do we have

[09:51] >> just one person

[09:52] >> running away from the uh UVU campus

[09:56] event with Charlie Kirk? Many have

[09:58] speculated his arms moving upward

[10:00] towards his chest is due to a phenomenon

[10:02] known in forensic science as decorticate

[10:04] posturing. However, that's unlikely.

[10:07] Dorticay posturing occurs when higher

[10:09] brain areas like the cerebral

[10:11] hemispheres are badly damaged, cutting

[10:13] off voluntary motor control. With the

[10:15] cortex offline, the red nucleus in the

[10:18] midbrain takes over, flexing the arms

[10:20] while the brain stem reflex pathways

[10:22] extend the legs, producing the classic

[10:25] arms to core look. Since Charlie's

[10:27] cerebrum was apparently not directly

[10:29] harmed, decorticate posturing is

[10:31] unlikely. An immediate loss of blood to

[10:33] the brain does not typically result in

[10:35] immediate decorticate posturing.

[10:36] Instead, loss of blood to the brain

[10:38] would have led to rapid unconsciousness

[10:40] and flaccid collapse. Therefore, his

[10:42] arms instantly moving up like that after

[10:45] being hit was apparently due to an

[10:47] instant involuntary defensive reflex. If

[10:50] someone physically scares you, what do

[10:52] you do even without thinking? Right?

[10:53] hands up in front of your body to defend

[10:55] and protect your head, neck, and core.

[10:57] You may be wondering if severe damage to

[10:59] the spinal cord at C4C5 caused Charlie

[11:02] to lose consciousness so quickly. No, it

[11:05] was the massive blood loss he incurred

[11:07] so quickly. The jugular vein carries the

[11:09] oxygenated blood down from the brain

[11:11] while the corateed artery pumps oxygen

[11:14] rich blood up to the brain. So what

[11:16] happens when both are catastrophically

[11:18] ruptured? Right. The jugular vein drains

[11:20] blood from the brain out of the body

[11:22] while the corateed artery continuously

[11:24] pumps blood out of the body with each

[11:26] heartbeat.

[11:31] Also, since Charlie likely had an

[11:33] elevated heart rate from exciting the

[11:34] crowd just minutes earlier during his

[11:36] entrance, his rapid pulse would have

[11:39] accelerated the blood loss. When someone

[11:41] suffers a catastrophic wound to the neck

[11:43] that destroys a corateed artery and

[11:44] jugular vein, the mind only has a

[11:46] fleeting window to possibly register

[11:48] what happened. However, in Charlie's

[11:50] case, and after analyzing the footage

[11:52] with a digital timer, he was conscious

[11:54] for no more than 4/10en of a second

[11:56] after impact. Far too fast for his brain

[11:59] to even register what had happened to

[12:01] him. For the brain to register an event,

[12:03] even briefly, it needs at least 1 to 2

[12:06] seconds of continuous function after the

[12:09] injury. That would be just enough for a

[12:10] flash of shock or awareness of what just

[12:13] happened to them. If someone goes

[12:14] unconscious in less than about 1 second,

[12:17] the brain cannot register the injury or

[12:19] even register that something is very

[12:21] wrong. Psychologically, the experience

[12:23] for Charlie is as if it never happened.

[12:26] No panic, no dread, no realization that

[12:29] he was about to die, only an abrupt

[12:32] blackout. It was neurologically

[12:34] impossible for him to psychologically

[12:36] realize anything was wrong at all. But

[12:38] what about pain? It takes approximately

[12:41] just 100 milliseconds to register pain

[12:43] in the neck due to its close proximity

[12:46] to the brain and spinal cord. However,

[12:48] his blackout came so fast his brain

[12:50] never had the opportunity to turn that

[12:52] raw signal into the perception of pain.

[12:55] What might have looked like movement,

[12:56] specifically with his arms moving

[12:58] upwards, was nothing more than an

[13:00] involuntary defensive reflex, not

[13:02] conscious awareness or the result of

[13:04] feeling any pain. He absolutely did not

[13:07] know he was shot and psychologically was

[13:09] unable to even register that anything

[13:11] catastrophic ever happened. Although

[13:13] Charlie Kirk was taken from us far too

[13:15] soon at only 31 years old with a wife

[13:17] and two young children, his passing was

[13:19] essentially instant and without him

[13:21] experiencing any pain or suffering. RIP

[13:24] Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts and prayers

[13:26] are with his friends and family. I read

[13:28] a comment on a video that really said a

[13:30] lot. It said something along the lines

[13:32] of, "I'm sorry humanity let you down. No

[13:34] matter what you thought of his politics,

[13:36] he showed up to speak and listened to

[13:38] everyone.

[13:39] >> LeBron or Jordan, greatest of all time.

[13:41] >> Yeah, Jordan, not even close.

[13:42] >> For real.

[13:43] >> 100%. I could prove it.

[13:44] >> All right, break it down. Break it down.

[13:45] >> How many finals has LeBron lost? Do

[13:46] >> you know how many mass shooters there

[13:47] have been in America over the last 10

[13:50] years?

[13:50] >> Counting or not counting gang violence?

[13:52] >> Great.

[13:53] >> I was in the middle of saying, "Great.

[13:54] Did you run a a statistical analysis on

[13:56] that?" Disagree with him on a thousand

[13:58] different fronts. That's a human being.

[13:59] That's a father of two children. I think

[14:01] about how that boy is not going to have

[14:04] any memories of his dad

[14:05] >> because the free market is so pervasive.

[14:07] >> See, here's the thing. No one's

[14:08] preventing you from living like a

[14:09] socialist. You can go do that. Your

[14:11] worldview would prevent me from living

[14:13] like an entrepreneur, like a capitalist.

[14:15] So, inherently, your ideology is built

[14:16] on control of other people's choices.

[14:19] >> He of course knew that he was in initial

[14:21] physical danger as an open conservative

[14:24] on college campuses.

[14:25] >> Yeah. Why don't you read the shirt off

[14:26] for everybody?

[14:27] >> Oh, my shirt, everybody. My shirt says

[14:30] Charlie Kirk.

[14:30] >> Do you have short hair and up teeth? You

[14:33] must be elevate our discussion above

[14:36] personal insults.

[14:37] >> But believe that if he showed kindness

[14:39] and openness, he trusted others would

[14:41] respond with the same humanity and not

[14:44] resort to violence.

[14:45] >> Everybody do me a favor. Please be

[14:47] respectful. Okay.

[14:48] >> I'm a queer person.

[14:50] >> Can you tell me what that means? I I

[14:51] mean that sincerely.

[14:52] >> Have a nice day.

[14:54] >> Let's have a conversation.

[14:56] >> She was wrong. When people stop talking,

[14:59] that's when you get violence. That's

[15:01] when civil war happens because you start

[15:02] to think the other side is so evil and

[15:04] they lose their humanity.

[15:05] >> You believed humanity was better than

[15:07] this. And that's what makes this loss so

[15:10] heartbreaking. How do you want to be

[15:11] remembered?

[15:12] >> If I die,

[15:13] >> everything just goes away. How would you

[15:14] if you could be associated with one

[15:16] thing, how would you want to be

[15:17] remembered?

[15:18] >> I want to be I want to be remembered for

[15:20] for courage for my faith. That that

[15:23] would be the most important thing. Most

[15:24] important thing is my faith in my life.

[15:25] If you allow murderers to live, it's an

[15:28] insult to the victim. You are basically

[15:30] saying that murderer has more rights

[15:32] than the person that they murdered. That

[15:34] they get to keep on having life even

[15:36] though that they took the life from a

[15:38] victim. Now, in the comments, what do

[15:39] you think about what happened at Utah

[15:41] Valley University that day? Let everyone

[15:43] know in the comments below. Subscribe

[15:46] for more. See you next time.

[15:51] Heat.

[15:58] [Music]

[16:01] Heat.