Hunter Kozak was the last person to speak to Charlie Kirk before the right-wing podcaster was shot and killed.
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. He was 31.
“It’s with a heavy heart that we, the Turning Point USA leadership team, write to notify you that early this afternoon, Charlie went to his eternal reward with Jesus Christ in Heaven,” read a statement from Turning Point, released the same evening and confirming Kirk’s death.
Kozak, who runs a political TikTok account, was approved by Kirk’s team to ask the political commentator a question at the event and ended up being the second person in line. Kirk was shot soon after Kozak’s question about gun violence in the United States, making the young influencer the last person to talk to Kirk before his untimely death.
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Keep scrolling to learn more about Kozak.
He runs a political TikTok account
Kozak has just over 40,000 followers on TikTok, where he posts videos about politics, linguistics and philosophy.
Kozak and his wife describe themselves as politically liberal. According to the New York Times, their “living room is decorated with flags for Black Lives Matter, Ukraine, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, with a Star-Spangled Banner hanging among them.”
Despite their political differences, Kozak acknowledged he and Kirk had something important in common: “As much as I disagree with Charlie, I appreciate that’s what he centered his campaign on — freedom of speech,” he told the Times.
He grew up Mormon
The Times also reported that both Kozak and his wife were raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and met as students at Brigham Young University. They have both since left the faith.
Charlie Kirk’s staff approved his question
Kozak’s question was approved by Kirk’s staff ahead of the event, he told ABC in an interview published on September 12. Kozak told ABC he told a staff member he disagreed with Kirk and had a question prepared. According to the influencer, he was later told he would be the second person in line to pose a question to Kirk.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” Kozak asked, to which Kirk replied, “Too many.”
(A report from the Violence Prevention Project found cisgender males have perpetrated 98% of mass shootings in the U.S. — a vast majority. The same report found that 2% of mass shootings were committed by cisgender females, and fewer than 1% of mass shootings were carried out by a transgender person.)
Kozak told Kirk the answer was five, before asking, “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
Kirk answered, “Counting or not counting gang violence?” just before he was shot.
He just welcomed his second child
Kozak and his wife welcomed their second child together on September 7. The pair told the New York Times they spent the days before the rally in the hospital’s NICU, but went to Kirk’s event “because they believed it was important to hear him, document what he said and articulate their own views.”
He has cooperated with police
Kozak made it clear in a video he shared via social media on September 11that he condemns the shooting and is cooperating with authorities.
“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,” he said at the time.“And if my 1-year-old boy… His one-year-old boy will grow up without memories of his dad.”
Ivanka Trump Reacts to Charlie Kirk’s Assassination: ‘Very Personal’
Thirty-three hours after Kirk was killed, a 22-year-old suspect was taken into custody after he reportedly confessed to the shooting and turned himself into authorities.
