 "Cricket legend Faf du Plessis is in shock after Carlie Kirk's assassination. Images: Reuters")
Former South African cricketer Faf du Plessis sent his condolences after popular conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at an event at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday. Du Plessis also questioned the gun laws in America after the latest incident of fatal shooting.
One of the strongest allies of US President Donald Trump, the 31-year-old Kirk was shot dead while hosting a college event in Utah for Turning Point USA, a conservative rights advocacy group which he founded and worked on high school and university campuses.
Du Plessis expresses grief at Kirk’s demise
Kirk was shot when he was talking during the event under a tent on the university campus. The assassin is still at large with investigating agencies hunting for him across the state.
Questioning the gun laws in the US, one of the greatest cricketers from South Africa, Du Plessis, sent a condolence message on the passing of the young activist.
“RIP Charlie Kirk. I’ll never understand America and why everyone can just have a gun,” Du Plessis wrote on X.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Kirk has been active in college politics by the age of 18. He founded Turning Point USA at age 18 as the organisation worked towards creating more awareness for conservative rights on US college campuses, which they felt were liberal at their core. His get-out-the-vote campaign played a big role in the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections last year.
While paying tribute to Kirk, Trump on Truth Social wrote: “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.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsABC4 news presenter Brien McElhatten told the BBC that Kirk received a good reception at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, but there were petitions to stop him from speaking at the university.
“Utah Valley University is in a very conservative county in a very conservative state in the Western United States, so he was well-received,” he said.
“However, as with many of his on-campus visits, there were petitions against him speaking at the university. There was discontent with him being there, but that was not at all unusual given his platform.”
The hunt for Kirk’s killer is being co-led by the FBI and the Utah Department of Public Safety.