Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered flags at Texas government buildings lowered to half-staff following the shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Abbott’s directive mirrored that of the White House, where flags have also been lowered in mourning. Kirk, who lead the group Turning Point USA, was a steadfast ally of President Donald Trump and is credited with building youth support for him in the 2024 election.
“Gov. Greg Abbott today directed all state government buildings to lower the United States and Texas flags to half-staff, in accordance with President Donald J. Trump’s proclamation honoring the memory of Charlie Kirk,” the governor’s office said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. The Wednesday, September 10 statement made no mention of lowering the flags in honor of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Flags will return to full-staff at sunset Sunday, Sept. 14.
Abbott, a Republican largely in lockstep with Trump, last ordered flags lowered on Aug. 27. That time, also at Trump’s directive, flags were lowered to honor the victims of the shooting at Minneapolis’ Annunciation Catholic School, where two children were killed and 17 more were injured.
Right-wing media figures seized on the Minneapolis tragedy due to the shooter’s transgender identity. The attack reportedly spurred the Trump Justice Department to consider imposing a ban on trans people owning firearms.
Indeed, seconds before his assassination, someone asked Kirk how many mass shooters have been trans over the past 10 years, to which he answered “too many,” according to multiple media reports.
In reality, 95.3% of mass shooters since 1966 have been male, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. To point, authorities announced Thursday morning that they’re seeking a male shooter of college age in Kirk’s assassination, according to a New York Times report.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety has released photos of a person of interest in connection with Kirk’s assassination and has enlisted the public’s help in his identification.
Robert Bohls, who heads Salt Lake City’s FBI field office, told the Times that investigators recovered a high-powered bolt-action rifle from a wooded area near the Utah Valley University campus where Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking to a large crowd Wednesday as a stop on “The Great American Comeback Tour.”
Authorities have also recovered an imprint of a forearm and a shoe suspected to be the assassin’s along with video footage tracking the shooter’s movements on the roof that was used as a vantage point to carry out the attack, the Times also reports.
The Current reached out to Abbott’s office to inquire about the last time Texas lowered its flags for a political assassination and whether the state ordered such a step when Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman was assassinated in her home on June 14.
The Current received no response by press time.
In response to a school shooting, Kirk stated at an April 2023 Turning Point USA event that mass shootings were “unfortunately worth it” as a byproduct of protecting the Second Amendment.
The same afternoon as Kirk’s assassination, yet another school shooting occurred, this time in Evergreen, Colorado. The gunman took his own life after leaving two victims in critical condition.
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