PHOENIX ( KPHO /AP/Gray News) - Conservative activist Charlie Kirk , the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA , died after being shot on Wednesday at an event at Utah Valley University.

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence seen in the United States.

Kirk had long focused on energizing young conservatives with speaking events like the one he was at in Utah.

Who was Charlie Kirk?

The 31-year-old had launched his organization, Turning Point USA, in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many GOP activists were nervous to tread.

A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to t

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