The final person to talk directly to Charlie Kirk, and who witnessed the conservative activist's assassination on Wednesday at Utah Valley University, is now speaking out. The New York Times identifies Hunter Kozak, a 29-year-old liberal TikTokker, as the person who was at the mic asking Kirk the last question he would take before being gunned down by a still-unidentified gunman. Kozak said he'd just posed his question to Kirk about mass shootings that involve transgender people, a topic that often spurs misinformation in right-wing circles.
The banter between Kirk and Kozak went back and forth for a short bit, until the gunshot that took Kirk's life suddenly rang out. "I saw blood spurt," Kozak says of the scene, noting that at first he'd thought the sound was a firecracker. Then, "I dropped to the floor." Now, Kozak says he fears he'll somehow be swept up in the highly polarized environment around Kirk's shooting and somehow blamed.
Kozak—who has two young children of his own, like Kirk—also notes that, despite his huge ideological and political differences with Kirk, he's not celebrating his death."As much as I disagree with Charlie, I appreciate that's what he centered his campaign on—freedom of speech," he said. "I disagree vehemently with thousands of things that Charlie Kirk has said," but "he is also a human being. That's a dad. The fact that a son is growing up without a father—that is inexcusable."
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Meanwhile, Utah Sen. Mike Lee said on Thursday that he'd also had a final communication with Kirk, exchanging texts shortly before Kirk was shot, per the Wall Street Journal. "So tragic," the GOP lawmaker wrote on X, showing a picture of Kirk's final message to him, which read, in part: "Just landed ... Event I think is going to be a win." When asked how he'd remember Kirk, Lee told reporters that Kirk's "boundless energy and great love for his country" would be at the top of his mind.
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