Charlie Kirk defended the death penalty before his assassination

The founder of the late Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, defended the death penalty on several occasions, arguing that it should be largely applied in cases of murder rather than only in the most extreme circumstances.

On Friday, officials identified Tyler Robinson, 22, like the suspect in the assassination of Kirk on a campus of the Utah college.

Utah Spencer Cox said that the state intended to continue the death penalty if the case was tried. President Donald Trump also expressed his support, saying that he hoped that Robinson will receive the death penalty if he is found guilty.

Who is Tyler Robinson? What we know about the alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk

Earlier this year, Kirk discussed his position on capital punishment during an exchange with a student captured in a video Posted on the USA Turning Point YouTube channel. Kirk was invited to know how he could support a “limited government” while believing that he should have the power to execute people.

The founder of the late Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, pleaded for the death penalty on several occasions, arguing that it should be largely applied in cases of murder rather than only in the most extreme circumstances. (Rebecca Noble / AFP via Getty Images)

“I believe in a small but strong government and, for the record, I think someone who took a life should be caught up in life,” Kirk told the student.

“In all circumstances?” The student asks Kirk.

Charlie Kirk replied: “How do you want to be recalled” less than 3 months before killing

“Under most, yes,” replied Kirk.

The student replied that the death penalty should be reserved for extreme cases, such as school shootings, mass murders and crimes against humanity, but not for what she described as “nonsense of the eye”.

Reservation photos for Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect in the UTAH assassination of the founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk. (Utah Gov. Spencer Cox)

“Why if you kill 10 people, one thing as morally different as killing a person?” Kirk asked the student, arguing that even people who claim to oppose the death penalty sometimes have exceptions.

Fox News personalities offer emotional tributes to Charlie Kirk: “He loved America so much”

“As conservatives, we are trying to seek blind justice,” Kirk said. “People on the left plead for social justice. … We, as conservatives, believe in the ideal that you will not favor administrative justice simply because of the color of your skin, your background, your wealth, etc.

Charile Kirk and his wife, Erika Kirk, and their two children, before her assassination on September 10, 2025. (Erika Kirk via Instagram)

Similarly in 2024, during an episode of the Charlie Kirk Show, the conservative activist and his co-animators debated the capital punishment, including what children should be before seeing an execution and if such an exhibition would reduce crime, Newsweek reported at the time.

“Death sanctions should be public, should be quick. It should be a television,” Kirk said.

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Kirk, a 31 -year -old husband and father, was fatally killed on Wednesday when he was expressed at the University of Utah Valley as part of his American return tour. He was transported urgently to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.