In his last 24 hours, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk sent personal and public messages expressing his strong Christian faith and spoke out in defense of slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. 

Moments before his assassination at Utah Valley University (UVU) during an event that was part of “The American Comeback Tour,” Kirk spoke about the Bible. A man who was always open about his connection to faith, Kirk reaffirmed his belief in Jesus Christ, referring to Corinthians verses.

“It’s not just intrabiblical evidence, but extrabiblical evidence that Jesus Christ was a real person, he lived a perfect life, he was crucified, died and rose on the third day, and he is Lord and God over all,” Kirk said while sitting under the very tent where he would be fatally shot.

Kirk addressed his back-and-forth with Jones on “The Will Cain Show” earlier this week, pointing out that the former Obama adviser often called George Floyd’s death a racist attack even if officials involved in the case did not. Kirk was one of many who drew parallels between the lack of reaction to Zarutska’s murder in comparison to the response to Floyd’s death.

He also posted about Zarustka on Instagram with a photo of the Ukrainian refugee’s terrified expression as she looked at her attacker, captioning it, “America will never be the same.” Kirk’s own life was taken hours later.

Memorials honoring Charlie Kirk have been held across the country and overseas, including in Berlin. Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025 ( Ilkin Eskipehlivan /Anadolu via Getty Images)

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was one of several people to share screenshots of their final text messages with Kirk.

“Thank you so much. Just landed,” Kirk wrote to the senator. “Event I think is going to be a win.” 

Daily Wire reporter Kassy Akiva also shared her last messages with Kirk. While it is not obvious what issue the two were discussing in the exchange, Kirk says he needed to “be better and just mute the noise.”

“We all do. It’s why I have a ton of friends who aren’t into politics and when I see them, they have 0 idea about any of the controversies on Twitter. It’s so refreshing,” Akiva wrote, and Kirk responded in agreement.