President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will be awarding the late Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, following the Turning Point USA founder’s assassination Wednesday afternoon. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president said during an event memorializing the September 11 attacks of 2001. “I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on,” he added. “I am pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Kirk, an influential conservative figure well-known for his college and university debates, was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon while speaking at a Utah Valley University event hosted by TPUSA. He is survived by his wife, Erika, and two children. Authorities have yet to identify his killer but have asked the public for any tips that may lead to the killer’s identification and arrest.

Investigators revealed in a Thursday press conference that they have recovered a “high-powered, bolt-action rifle” believed to have been used by the killer. FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said, “That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon.” Conservative podcast host Steven Crowder reported that he had received an email from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) officer containing details concerning the weapon found.

“ATF and other law-enforcement located an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspects route of travel,” the email screenshot reads. “The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”

Kirk’s assassination and the discovery of transgender slogans engraved on the shooter’s cartridges follow a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis late last month. The shooter was a transgender-identified man who left behind a manifesto published online and wrote violent phrases and slogans on his gun and his magazines. The event bore a strange similarity to a 2023 mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, when another transgender-identifying individual left behind a manifesto before shooting innocent children. According to multiple reports, Kirk was debating the involvement of transgender-identified individuals in mass shootings when he was shot.

In addition to recovering the rifle, Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) commissioner Beau Mason reported that authorities have been “able to track the movements of the shooter.” He shared, “We tracked his movements onto the campus, through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof to a shooting location. After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building, and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood.” According to Mason, investigators have obtained “good video footage of this individual,” but will not “release that at this time. We are working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual.” If law enforcement officials are not quickly able to identify the suspect, Mason said, then video footage would be made available to the public and to media outlets to aid in identifying the assassin.

Police dispatch audio from the time of the murder described the killer as “wearing all black, black long gun, black tactical helmet, a black mask, possibly wearing a tactical vest and jeans.” Based on video footage obtained by authorities, Mason confirmed that description as accurate, adding that the shooter is likely college-aged. Thursday afternoon, the FBI shared photos of the suspect, asking the public for help identifying the individual. The suspect pictured is wearing dark jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt with an American flag in the center, sunglasses, and a baseball cap.

In the hours following Kirk’s murder, numerous leftists on social media decided to mock or celebrate the husband and father’s slaying. A transgender-identifying figure on the Left-wing social media site Bluesky posted, “I wish the bullet that hit Charlie Kirk a very pleasant day.” U.S. Marine Corps Captain Jacoby Williamson posted a photo of Kirk with the caption, “Another racist man popped,” accompanied by an emoji of beer glasses clinking together. Another online progressive asked, “So are we counting his last words as ‘gang violence’ or ‘GURGLE GURGLE GURGLE’???” Fort Bragg public affairs officer Guillermo Muniz faulted Kirk for his own death, using the vulgar acronym “FAFO.” The Bluesky app has erupted with progressive posters debating who should be targeted for assassination next. Potential targets include the president, Ben Shapiro, J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk, and others. Bluesky even issued a “warning” to users celebrating Kirk being shot in the throat: “Glorifying violence or harm violates Bluesky's Community Guidelines. We review reports and take action on content that celebrates harm against anyone. Violence has no place in healthy public discourse, and we're committed to fostering healthy, open conversations.”

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced that foreigners celebrating or mocking Kirk’s could potentially be denied entry to the U.S. or have their visas revoked if already here. “In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Landau said. “I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action.”

The website charliesmurderers.com has begun cataloging screenshots of those who are celebrating or mocking Kirk’s murder. “This website is a lawful data aggregator of publicly-available information. It has been created for the purposes of public education,” the website’s description states. “We seek to collect and archive instances of individuals promoting or glorifying of political violence, much like archive.org or archive.is. We firmly denounce all political violence and criminal activity. Our thoughts and prayers are with Charlie Kirk’s family.”