Dr. Grande Analyzes the Assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in 2025

[00:00] Hello, this is Dr. Grande. Today I will

[00:02] analyze the case of Charlie Kirk. First

[00:05] I'll look at the background of this

[00:06] case, move to the timeline of the crime,

[00:09] then offer my analysis. Charlie James

[00:12] Kirk was born on October 14, 1993 in

[00:15] Arlington Heights, Illinois. He went by

[00:17] the name Charlie. His father was an

[00:19] architect and his mother was a mental

[00:22] health counselor. When Charlie was in

[00:24] high school, he helped a Republican

[00:25] senator in Illinois to get elected.

[00:28] During his senior year, he launched a

[00:30] campaign to fight a price increase in

[00:32] cookies at his school. After graduation,

[00:35] Charlie attended college, but he dropped

[00:37] out to become a full-time political

[00:39] activist. His political positions were

[00:42] conservative and included supporting the

[00:44] Second Amendment and Christian

[00:46] nationalism. Charlie was opposed to LGBT

[00:49] rights, COVID vaccine mandates, and

[00:52] abortion. In 2012, Charlie founded an

[00:55] organization called Turning Point USA,

[00:58] which promotes conservative values. The

[01:00] focus here is on recruiting those who

[01:02] are college age. Initially, Charlie

[01:05] indicated he was not the world's biggest

[01:06] fan of Donald Trump, but in 2016, he

[01:10] started supporting Trump vigorously. In

[01:12] 2019, Charlie started a YouTube channel.

[01:15] At the time I'm making this video, the

[01:17] channel has over 4 million subscribers

[01:20] and has been viewed over 1.1 billion

[01:23] times. Many of his videos feature

[01:25] Charlie talking at university campuses

[01:28] and debating poorly prepared students

[01:30] who maintain far-left positions. Here

[01:33] are a few examples of video titles that

[01:35] sum up his channel pretty well. Why do

[01:38] Democrat women want to die alone? Gay

[01:41] man saved by Christ after 10 years of

[01:43] homosexual lifestyle. Charlie Kirk

[01:46] crushes woke lies at Michigan State. Dei

[01:50] is a sin. Charlie Kirk ends debate once

[01:53] and for all. God strikes the hearts of

[01:55] Purdue during debate with Charlie Kirk.

[01:58] Conservative student almost turns

[02:00] socialist, but Charlie helps save him.

[02:03] And people are coming to Jesus in record

[02:06] numbers. Starting in 2020, Charlie

[02:08] hosted a conservative talk radio program

[02:10] called The Charlie Kirk Show. In May

[02:13] 2021, Charlie married a woman named

[02:16] Erica. The couple went on to have a

[02:18] daughter and a son. Over the next few

[02:20] years, Charlie continued with his

[02:22] political activism and became a

[02:24] prominent conservative social media

[02:26] influencer. Now, moving to the timeline

[02:29] of the crime. On September 10, 2025,

[02:32] Charlie was speaking at Utah Valley

[02:34] University in Orm, Utah. This was the

[02:37] first stop in his American Comeback

[02:38] Tour, which also included visits to

[02:41] several other states, including

[02:42] Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia, and

[02:45] Louisiana. About 3,000 people attended

[02:48] the event. As far as security, there

[02:51] were only six police officers, as well

[02:53] as a few members of Charlie's private

[02:55] security team. Charlie was sitting under

[02:57] a tent and having conversations with

[02:59] members of the audience, which was his

[03:01] typical format at events like this. At

[03:03] about 12:20 p.m., an audience member

[03:06] asked, "Do you know how many transgender

[03:09] Americans have been mass shooters over

[03:11] the last 10 years?" Charlie responded,

[03:13] "Too many." Which caused the crowd to

[03:16] cheer. The audience member then said,

[03:18] "Okay, well, it's five." Okay, now five

[03:21] is a lot, right? I'll give you some

[03:24] credit. Do you know how many mass

[03:25] shooters there have been in America over

[03:27] the last 10 years? Charlie said,

[03:30] "Counting or not counting gang

[03:32] violence?" At this moment, when he

[03:34] finished saying that, a gunman fired a

[03:37] single shot from the roof of the Loi

[03:39] Center about 425 ft away. This is

[03:43] another building on the university's

[03:45] campus. The bullet struck Charlie in the

[03:47] neck. In a gruesome scene, he suddenly

[03:50] jerked backward and blood immediately

[03:53] spurred it from his neck. Charlie was

[03:56] transported to a hospital where he died

[03:58] at 2:40 p.m. Here is what the

[04:01] authorities found during the course of

[04:03] their investigation. Two people were

[04:04] arrested right after the shooting, but

[04:06] they were both released. Investigators

[04:08] stated that neither one was involved in

[04:11] the shooting. The gunman was captured on

[04:13] video surveillance. He was described as

[04:15] a college age male. He arrived at about

[04:17] 11:52 a.m., entered the Lowi Center, and

[04:21] used a stairwell to climb to the

[04:22] rooftop. After the assassination, the

[04:25] gunman could be seen running across the

[04:27] rooftop of that building. At first, the

[04:30] FBI appeared confident that facial

[04:32] recognition would lead to the killer's

[04:34] identity, but eventually they released

[04:36] images of a person of interest to the

[04:38] media. The young man could be seen

[04:40] wearing sunglasses, a black shirt, and a

[04:43] black hat. A Mouser bolt-action rifle

[04:46] chambered in 30 6 was found wrapped in a

[04:49] towel in a nearby wooded area. The

[04:51] authorities indicated they found a

[04:53] footwear impression, a palm print, and

[04:56] forearm imprints, which they will

[04:58] analyze. There was a spent case in the

[05:00] chamber of the rifle and three live

[05:02] cartridges in the magazine. The

[05:04] ammunition was engraved with expressions

[05:06] consistent with transgender and

[05:09] anti-fascist ideologies. At the time I'm

[05:12] making this video, the assassin is still

[05:14] on the loose. The authorities delayed a

[05:16] press conference on September 11, 2025,

[05:19] citing rapid developments in this case.

[05:22] Now, moving to my analysis, here are my

[05:24] thoughts on a few areas that stood out

[05:26] to me in this case. Item number one,

[05:28] based on the evidence the authorities

[05:30] have revealed so far, I imagine that

[05:32] they will be able to identify the

[05:33] shooter pretty quickly. Finding the

[05:35] assassin and taking him into custody,

[05:37] however, are different issues. Clearly,

[05:40] this is a dangerous individual who is

[05:42] highly motivated to escape. Some experts

[05:45] have theorized that the assassin must

[05:46] have been a highly trained sniper, like

[05:48] this was a professional hit. I would be

[05:51] surprised if this was the case. I don't

[05:53] believe this assassin was highly

[05:55] organized or sophisticated. Here are a

[05:58] few reasons why. As I mentioned, the

[06:00] shot was fired from 425 ft away. A

[06:03] mouser rifle chambered in 30 6 can

[06:05] easily strike a target at this range. A

[06:08] highly trained sniper can be deadly with

[06:09] this weapon at distances much longer

[06:12] than that. A 425 ft shot is within the

[06:15] capability of a competent marksman.

[06:17] There is no need for the assassin to

[06:19] have elite training or anything even

[06:21] approaching that level of competence.

[06:24] The bullet drop with a 30 six over this

[06:26] distance would be about 5 in. And

[06:29] Charlie was struck in his neck. This

[06:32] suggests that the shooter was aiming for

[06:34] his head and failed to compensate for

[06:36] bullet drop. Clearly, it would be better

[06:38] for the shooter if the authorities never

[06:40] found his rifle. He removed it from the

[06:42] scene of the shooting, the rooftop, but

[06:45] then left it in the woods where it was

[06:47] quickly located. If he was going to

[06:49] abandon the rifle anyway, which is a

[06:51] questionable strategy, why not simply

[06:53] leave it on the roof? This makes it seem

[06:55] like the shooter panicked and decided to

[06:57] abandon his rifle under unfavorable

[06:59] circumstances. He didn't know what to

[07:01] do. He didn't actually have a complete

[07:04] plan. If the gunman could have hidden

[07:06] the weapon, that would have been a lot

[07:08] better for his escape effort. Why didn't

[07:10] he have an area prepared to hide the

[07:12] weapon? He could have dug a hole in the

[07:14] woods in preparation for the shooting

[07:16] and put the rifle there after the

[07:18] assassination.

[07:19] This is consistent with the person who

[07:21] was being governed by their emotions,

[07:24] not an individual who was carefully

[07:25] planning an attack all the way through.

[07:28] The gunman allegedly inscribed

[07:30] transgender and anti-fascist messages on

[07:32] the cartridges, which suggests he was

[07:34] motivated by something related to these

[07:36] ideologies. Why would he do this unless

[07:39] he planned on leaving the rifle behind?

[07:41] Who would read the message if he kept

[07:43] the rifle? Again, what was the point of

[07:46] taking the rifle from the scene of the

[07:47] shooting at all? Making inscriptions

[07:50] only created more evidence which could

[07:52] be used against him. Here we see yet

[07:54] another unwise move based on emotional

[07:57] reasoning. Presumably the person of

[07:59] interest released by the authorities is

[08:01] the shooter. He was not wearing any type

[08:03] of mask. Ever since the co pandemic, a

[08:06] person can get away with wearing a mask

[08:08] in public. It does not draw suspicion or

[08:11] cause alarm like it used to. Why didn't

[08:14] the shooter wear a mask? When looking at

[08:16] all the mistakes made by the shooter, I

[08:18] don't believe he was a professional at

[08:19] all. rather an impulsive and sadistic

[08:21] individual motivated by hatred. He was

[08:24] so focused on killing Charlie Kirk that

[08:27] he did not dedicate time and thought to

[08:28] his own escape plan. The gunman wanted

[08:31] Charlie to die more than anything else

[08:32] in the world. His mission was to stop

[08:34] Charlie from spreading a conservative

[08:36] message at any cost. Item number two.

[08:40] Unfortunately, it didn't take long for

[08:42] some commentators to make insensitive

[08:44] comments about Charlie Kirk's

[08:46] assassination. For example, the analyst

[08:48] Matthew Dow speculated on MSNBC that a

[08:52] Charlie Kirk supporter accidentally

[08:54] killed him by firing in celebration.

[08:57] Matthew didn't say this happened. Again,

[08:59] he was just speculating. He went on to

[09:01] say that quote, "Hateful thoughts lead

[09:03] to hateful words, which then lead to

[09:06] hateful actions. You can't stop with

[09:08] these sort of awful thoughts you have

[09:10] and then saying these awful words and

[09:12] then not expect awful actions to take

[09:14] place." unquote. MSNBC fired Matthew

[09:17] Dow, calling his assessment

[09:19] inappropriate, insensitive, and

[09:22] unacceptable. Whenever there is an act

[09:24] of political violence anymore, both the

[09:26] left and the right claim that the other

[09:28] side caused it. This is now part of the

[09:30] playbook. It doesn't matter what the

[09:32] facts are, everything descends into a

[09:34] mindless blame game. Item number three,

[09:37] what do I think happened in this case?

[09:39] This is just a theory, my opinion.

[09:41] Charlie Kirk was a controversial and

[09:43] well-known conservative figure. He

[09:45] wasn't a politician, but he had a lot of

[09:47] political influence, which was evident

[09:50] through his help to get Donald Trump

[09:51] elected as president. Charlie was

[09:54] effective at mobilizing young people to

[09:56] support Trump. This is a group that for

[09:58] a long time seemed to be moving to the

[10:00] left. For this reason, Charlie was

[10:02] viewed as a champion of the right. He

[10:04] managed to turn the tide and protect the

[10:06] future of conservative ideals. As all

[10:09] this was going on, hatred was building

[10:11] against Charlie Kirk among a small

[10:13] subgroup who promote the transgender

[10:16] ideology. Not everyone in this group,

[10:18] again, just a small subgroup of this

[10:21] population. He had infuriated this

[10:24] subgroup with his repeated rebukes of

[10:26] their belief system. Furthermore, there

[10:28] was a lot of political rhetoric about

[10:30] how Donald Trump was a fascist. If he

[10:32] gets his way, he will become a dictator.

[10:35] Charlie was a supporter of Trump, so the

[10:38] two became connected in people's minds.

[10:40] If one was evil and dangerous, then both

[10:43] were. This led the small far-left

[10:45] subgroup to view the promotion of

[10:47] conservative values as an existential

[10:50] issue. In the way of thinking, if the

[10:52] right had its way, proponents of the

[10:55] transgender ideology would be eliminated

[10:57] completely. They would cease to exist.

[11:00] This made the stakes of the political

[11:01] debate much higher and led some people

[11:04] to contemplate violence, including the

[11:06] gunman who killed Charlie Kirk. Again,

[11:10] this is just one possibility, a theory.

[11:12] Through exposure to extreme political

[11:14] positions, this gunman came to believe

[11:16] that political violence is justified as

[11:18] long as there is a perceived existential

[11:21] threat. He learned that science is evil

[11:24] and a tool of apparently the fascists.

[11:27] The gunman came to believe that bullying

[11:29] and terrorism are legitimate tools of

[11:30] somebody trying to bring about political

[11:33] change. In a cowardly move, the gunman

[11:36] killed Charlie and then fled to escape

[11:38] responsibility. He falsely believed that

[11:40] the assassination would advance his

[11:41] cause, but it backfired spectacularly. A

[11:45] lot of people have been suggesting that

[11:47] everyone needs to tone down the

[11:48] rhetoric. I agree this is warranted, but

[11:51] the problem is larger than just some

[11:53] people using their freedom of speech to

[11:54] call Trump a fascist. Society should be

[11:57] able to handle political opinions that

[11:59] are extreme without reacting violently.

[12:02] I think the real problem here is that

[12:03] some people have an overwhelming sense

[12:05] of entitlement. They have no critical

[12:07] thinking skills. And they are affected

[12:09] by cognitive distortions like all or

[12:11] nothing thinking, catastrophizing,

[12:14] mental filtering, personalization, and

[12:16] of course, emotional reasoning. Unable

[12:19] to effectively debate their adversaries,

[12:22] they resort to violence. They fail to

[12:24] recognize how political violence is not

[12:26] the answer and will not lead to them

[12:28] achieving their goals. Charlie Kirk went

[12:30] from being an influential conservative

[12:32] figure to a martyr. It is frightening to

[12:35] contemplate a world fashioned according

[12:37] to these extremist beliefs. Some on the

[12:40] far left would be fine with a society

[12:41] where scientists challenge nothing and

[12:43] no one speaks out against any left-wing

[12:46] ideology out of fear of being murdered.

[12:49] Is that really the world that they want?

[12:51] Is that a world of inclusiveness and

[12:53] diversity? Or is that the very

[12:56] dictatorship which they claim to fear?

[12:59] Maybe in their estimation, having a

[13:01] dictator isn't the problem. They just

[13:04] want the ability to choose the dictator.

[13:07] Those are my thoughts in the case of

[13:08] Charlie Kirk. Thank you so much for

[13:10] watching. I'll talk to you soon.