US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has paid tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the first anniversary of his murder, pledging to hold “the enemies of civilization” to account.
In a post on X today, Rubio praised Kirk’s gift for articulating and defending family, faith and America, saying he had been killed for it. He added that Kirk’s legacy would be honoured by building great things.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of the conservative youth movement Turning Point USA, was shot dead on September 10, 2025, while addressing some 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. A close ally of US President Donald Trump, he was known for open debates with students who disagreed with him.
The White House also marked the anniversary, describing Kirk on X as “a fearless patriot” whose courage and love of country would never be forgotten.
The man accused of the killing, Tyler Robinson, was ordered to stand trial on September 1 after Utah District Judge Tony Graf ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence. Robinson, 23, who was formally charged with aggravated murder in September 2025, pleaded not guilty to all counts and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors argued that an engraved bullet recovered from the suspected murder weapon showed Kirk had been targeted over his politics. Robinson’s lawyers did not offer an alternative account of the shooting and focused instead on trying to keep the death penalty off the table.
Kirk’s death quickly became a rallying point for the American Right. At a memorial attended by tens of thousands at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025, Trump described him as “a martyr now for American freedom”.
The killing also drew condemnation from political leaders across Europe, including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Belgium’s Bart De Wever.
The phrase Rubio used today also featured at the State Department’s ministerial on political terrorism on July 16, where White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called for justice against “these enemies of civilization”. Rubio told delegations from 66 countries at the same event that left-wing extremism was driven above all by hatred of civilisation itself.
In November 2025, Washington designated four European left-wing groups, including Germany’s Antifa Ost, as terrorist organisations. State Department officials have said they want allies to adopt similar measures.
