The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk sent a shockwave through the American conservative movement on Wednesday, with his sudden and public death eliciting emotional reactions from some of the country’s most prominent figures on the right.

Kirk, a leading firebrand in conservative media and right-wing activism, was shot in the neck on the campus of Utah Valley University while speaking to a large crowd during an event billed as “The American Comeback Tour.”

President Trump confirmed Kirk’s death in Truth Social post just hours after the shooting, writing, “no one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.”

“He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” the president said. “Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”

Kirk, 31, sprang into the conservative movement as a political wunderkind after he founded the conservative student group Turning Point USA in 2012, even after he skipped university himself.