Charlie Kirk's assassination and transgenderism

Charlie Kirk — photo by Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

On 27 August 2025, a 23-year-old trans woman named Robin Westman walked into Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., and opened fire. Westman killed two young children and wounded 17 others before committing suicide. In the wake of this incident, senior Justice Department officials were reportedly considering proposals to limit transgender individuals' ability to possess firearms, though discussions were still preliminary.

On 10 September—two weeks after the mass shooting—Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing political activist, was speaking at Utah Valley University.

An audience member asked Kirk, "Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?" This question was apparently asked in light of reports that the Justice Department was weighing restrictions on transgender people's Second Amendment rights after the Westman shooting.

Kirk replied, "Too many."

The questioner said the answer was five. He then asked Kirk, “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?”

Kirk replied, "Counting or not counting gang violence?"

At that point, he was shot in the neck and died later that day.

A few days later, police arrested Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man alleged to have carried out the assassination. Apparently, Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, a man who was in the process of transitioning to a woman—further evidence that transgenderism may have played a role in his motive.