W.Va. GOP Leaders Lament Senseless Political Murder Of Charlie Kirk

Josh Holstein, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, long followed the rise of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an outspoken, sometimes provocative voice who was shot to death during an event in Utah Wednesday.  

As notifications began coming in, he searched for information online.

“And then unfortunately, I stumbled upon the video, and, you know, that’s really when the gut wrenching moment happened,” Holstein said.

Kirk was an author and a media figure who co-founded the national Turning Point USA organization that mobilized a conservative movement on high school and college campuses nationwide.

“I actually attended his 2017 High School conference when I was in high school, and actually started a Turning Point chapter in my high school. So I met him there in 2017 and had spoken to him a few times over the years since then,” Holstein said.

“Charlie was not only a powerful figure for conservative causes and right wing causes, but just for the American idea of debate and deliberation,” he said. 

The motive behind the Kirk murder is not yet clear – but there is broad belief that it was politically motivated. 

“We’ve got a very deep, sick rot in our political, in our psyche, and it’s a problem. There has got to come a point where people can separate their ideas from abject hatred of each other,” Holstein said.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey called Kirk “a fighter, a conservative warrior, and a friend.” 

He ordered flags at state facilities lowered to half staff beginning at noon on Friday, in Kirk’s honor.