Explainer: Fatal shooting of US activist Charlie Kirk in Utah

Charlie Kirk speaking (Meredith Seaver/AP)

Charlie Kirk, the chief executive and co-founder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, has been shot dead at an event at a Utah college.

Mr Kirk was a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of US president Donald Trump. The 31-year-old bolstered the Republican party’s get-out-the-vote drive in the 2024 US election based on the theory that there were thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote, but could be persuaded to back him.