University of North Texas officials published a statement Thursday that apparently condemns “recent actions of a few of our community members regarding” the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University.
Although it is not referenced specifically in UNT’s statement, a video of a student reacting to Kirk’s death was circulating on social media.
In a video described as a confrontation in a UNT lecture hall, which was posted to RTN Global on Instagram, a student is seen showing what is claimed to be a video of Kirk’s death. Another student recording the incident asks, “Why are we cheering someone getting shot?”
A brief confrontation follows, with the student condemning the support of violence in response to political speech.
Thursday evening, UNT officials posted a statement about Kirk’s death on university social media accounts that doesn’t explicitly reference the video.
The statement mentioned Kirk’s visit to the Denton campus exactly one year ago and said the university has a “fundamental responsibility to educate students as citizens who can engage constructively with others who hold different views.
“We expect UNT students and community members to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the integrity and values of the university community,” the statement reads.
“The recent actions of a few of our community members regarding Mr. Kirk’s death do not represent the values of our community. Students who violate the law or UNT Code of Student Conduct will be held accountable.”
The student code of conduct doesn’t explicitly prohibit students from incendiary political speech but does penalize disorderly conduct and class disruptions. The statement garnered more than 400 comments on Facebook by Thursday night.
The Denton Record-Chronicle asked UNT, Texas Woman’s University and North Central Texas College officials on Thursday if their campuses had active chapters of Turning Point USA, Kirk’s conservative outreach project to college students and, more broadly, new voters.
UNT is the only campus that has a chapter, and Paige Rasmussen, the field representative of TPUSA for UNT, said Thursday morning that none of the chapter members wished to comment. She passed a request for comment to the larger organization, but no response had come by the time of publication.
UNT officials hadn’t responded to an email sent Thursday morning asking about the active chapter and requesting additional details.
Kirk rose to prominence largely by visiting college campuses to debate hot-button culture issues and to persuade young Americans to embrace far-right political values and evangelical Christianity.
Critics of Kirk have brought up the pundit’s controversial and inflammatory statements. In 2023, Kirk said gun violence was an unfortunate but acceptable cost of preserving the Second Amendment “to protect our other God-given rights.”
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and cbreeding@dentonrc.com.
For more than 120 years, the Denton Record-Chronicle has been Denton County’s source for locally produced, fact-based journalism. Your support through a tax-deductible donation or low-cost subscription is vital to our ability to deliver credible, relevant, unique coverage of our community.
