Charlie Kirk was one of the highest profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.

He was shot dead on Wednesday at the age of 31 while hosting a college event for Turning Point USA, the organisation he co-founded. His wife and family were at the scene but are safe; no other injuries have been reported.

The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended a community college near Chicago before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.

Kirk started Turning Point USA at age 18, with the aim to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.

The organisation played a key role in the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump and other Republican candidates in last year’s election. The millennial was credited widely with helping to register tens of thousands of new voters and flipping Arizona for Trump.

Kirk was also known for his anti-transgender views and scepticism over the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, he publicly promoted the false claim that the election won by Joe Biden was stolen from Trump.

Last night, Trump paid tribute to Kirk on Truth Social: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c206zm81z4gt