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Student who debated Charlie Kirk just before death reveals ‘irony’ of the point he tried to make

September 12, 2025 | | Print Article

The college student who was debating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk moments before his assassination at Utah Valley University excoriated his fellow leftists in a social media video posted Thursday.

“First off, you sick f–king psychos that think this is the answer… um, it’s not,” Utah Valley University student Hunter Kozak, 29, began. “It’s f–king not. It’s awful, and a father doesn’t have his kids anymore. Charlie had two kids and a wife.”

“And, like, not to make this about me, but I have two kids and a wife. And … his one-year-old boy will grow up without memories of his dad. It’s a tragedy and it’s hard to grapple with, and I’m part of a community that is struggling to grapple with it right now,” he added.

Continuing his fiery screed, Kozak noted the great “irony” of what happened, which was that he’d been trying to make a point about how peaceful his side of the political aisle is when Kirk was shot.

“The point I was trying to make was how peaceful the left was right before he got shot, and that only makes sense if we stay peaceful,” he said.

“I’m on the record for how much I disagree with Charlie Kirk, but he is still a human being – have we forgotten that? Are we crazy? I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was conversation,” Kozak added.

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He also disputed conspiracy theories that he was somehow involved in Kirk’s tragic assassination and murder.

“You are not helping anything,” he told the conspiracy theorists. “I’ve been talking to the police. We’re good, thank you, and if you’re salivating about what happened, don’t. I don’t know if any of my audience is but, if you are, you’re not part of what I’m trying to do here at all.”

Speaking with CNN on Thursday, Kozak again made mention of the irony of everything that happened:

Likewise, speaking with The New York Times, Kozak praised Kirk for his adherence to free speech.

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“As much as I disagree with Charlie, I appreciate that’s what he centered his campaign on — freedom of speech,” he said. “I disagree vehemently with thousands of things that Charlie Kirk has said.”

“He is also a human being. That’s a dad. The fact that a son is growing up without a father — that is inexcusable,” Kozak added.

As to the question he’d asked Kirk, he said, ““I couldn’t have asked a worse question.”

Below is a brief transcript of the back-and-forth exchange between Kirk and Kozak:

Kozak: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”

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Kirk: “Too many.”

Kozak: “The number’s five. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

Kirk: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”

Seconds later, Kirk was struck in the neck.

“I wanted to challenge him,” Kozak told the Times regarding his question.

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Prior to Wednesday’s assassination, Kozak used to post TikTok videos in which he’d supposedly “debunk” Kirk’s talking points, such as the claim that the Minneapolis school shooter was transgender.

“Charlie’s counting on the fact that only a psycho would…parse through all of the 6,000 mass shootings that have ever happened in the history of America,” Kozak said in one recording.

Except it turned out that the Minneapolis shooter was, indeed, pretty much transgender:

Vivek Saxena
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