Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah was in the crowd in Orem, Utah when conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday, and described the scene in an emotional interview with Fox News shortly after Kirk was taken to a local hospital.
“I was watching Charlie, I can’t say that I saw blood. I can’t say that I saw him get hit, but I did see him fall immediately backwards into his left,” Chaffetz said, adding that he saw a connection between the violence and what Kirk was saying when the shot was fired.
“I don’t think it was a coincidence that the shot rang out when he got a question about transgender mass shootings,” he said.
“America Reports” host Sandra Smith, who was the first to speak with Chaffetz following the deadly shooting at Utah Valley University, noted later in the hour that he was clearly “emotional.” The former congressman and Fox News contributor also admitted that he was out of breath after sprinting across campus.
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“I was there, my daughter was there, my son-in-law was there, my wife was there. I mean, Charlie Kirk coming to town, we were excited,” he said. “He came out, he was throwing hats, riling up the crowd. He took his first question, which was — I have to catch my breath.”
Chaffetz said that he knew Kirk personally and revealed he was texting with him before the event kicked off.
“I traded text messages with him,” Chaffetz said. “I said, ‘Hey, Charlie, hope I get a chance to see you. Our family would like to see you again.’”
Kirk, 31, was on the campus, roughly 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, for an outdoor “American Comeback Tour” event in which he debated with students. Before taking questions from students, Kirk was seen throwing red ‘Make America Great Again’ hats and white ‘47’ hats in support of President Donald Trump into the crowd.
“It wasn’t as if there was a whole bunch of gunfire,” Chaffetz said, describing the scene. “There was one shot and then it stopped.”
The event lacked security checkpoints upon entry, the former congressman said, and Kirk only had a handful of private security guards around the tent he spoke from.
“There was a light police presence. I’m sure, I hope, some undercover people. Charlie has his own bit of security but not to deal with a couple thousand people that were there to see Charlie,” he said.
Tributes to Kirk immediately flowed in from lawmakers and conservative power players, including Trump, who wrote on Truth Social announcing Kirk’s death.
“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,” Trump wrote. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
“Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family,” Trump concluded. “Charlie, we love you!”
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