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(NEXSTAR) — President Donald Trump has announced that he will posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while speaking at an event in Utah on Wednesday.
Kirk, 31, was hit by a single gunshot believed to have been fired from the roof of a nearby building at Utah Valley University. He was rushed to a local hospital in a private vehicle, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities confirmed.
Kirk co-founded Turning Point in 2012 to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
He went on to develop relationships with many in the Republican party, including Trump, who was among the first to confirm Kirk’s death on Wednesday.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Trump announced Wednesday morning that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president said before delivering remarks at the Pentagon, where he was commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
What is the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
Considered the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the president to “recognize a lifetime of significant achievements in the arts, public service, science, or other fields,” Congress explains.
According to an executive order issued by President John F. Kennedy, the award can be presented to “any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
President Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005,to Internet software designers Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn, right, in the East Room of the White House. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian award, and recognizes exceptional meritorious service. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 
President Donald Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Vice Chief of Staff Army Gen. Jack Keane in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) 
FILE – In this Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005 file photo, President Bush awards Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered people at a hotel he managed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in the East Room of the White House, in Washington. Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda” as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country’s 1994 genocide, and is a well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges, police announced on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File) 
President Joe Biden, right, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, to Bill Nye in the East Room of the White House, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) 
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Actor Robert De Niro during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. Obama is recognizing 21 Americans with the nation’s highest civilian award, including giants of the entertainment industry, sports legends, activists and innovators. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 
President Joe Biden awards the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 
President Bush, center, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Civil Rights pioneer Benjamin Hooks, left, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. Mr. Hooks wife Frances Hooks is at right. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is second from right. . (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) 
Former NBA basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar, left, reacts as President Barack Obama, right, attempts to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 
President Joe Biden awards the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to gymnast Simone Biles during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 
President Donald Trump awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) 
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Barbra Streisand during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, in Washington. Obama is recognizing 17 Americans with the nation’s highest civilian award, including giants of the entertainment industry such as Streisand and Steven Spielberg, baseball legends Willie Mays and Yogi Berra, and politicians, activists and government innovators. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 
Rush Limbaugh reacts after first Lady Melania Trump presented him with the the Presidential Medal of Freedom as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Second lady Karen Pence is at left and Kathryn Limbaugh is partially hidden. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) 
President Joe Biden, right, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, to Earvin “Magic” Johnson in the East Room of the White House, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) 
President Donald Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former NBA basketball player and coach Bob Cousy, of the Boston Celtics, during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 
Actress Cicely Tyson, center, accompanied by singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen, bottom left, and former NBA basketball player Michael Jordan, top left, blows a kiss after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. Obama is recognizing 21 Americans with the nation’s highest civilian award, including giants of the entertainment industry, sports legends, activists and innovators. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 
Olympic gold medalist and former University of Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable speaks after President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
There is no nomination process, with a separate executive order giving the president expansive freedom to bestow the honor upon anyone.
Since 1963, the Presidential Medal of Freedom has been awarded more than 670 times, per Congress. Two people, Ellsworth Bunker, who served as ambassador to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, were honored with the award twice.
Bunker and Powell are among the 56 recipients to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom “with distinction,” a more prestigious version of the award. Others include Pope Francis I and Pope John XXIII, former presidents Joe Biden and John F. Kennedy, the crew of Apollo 11, and every recipient named by President Gerald Ford.
Those to be posthumously recognized include Kennedy, Babe Ruth, Martin Luther King Jr., John Wayne, Jackie Robinson, and Sally Ride.
Trump’s Medal of Freedom recipients
During his first term, Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 24 recipients.
Among them were several athletes, including baseball legend Babe Ruth, golfer Tiger Woods, and former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera. Elvis Presley and former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia were posthumously honored in 2018.
Earlier this month, Trump announced former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom after he was seriously injured in a New Jersey car crash.
It’s not clear when Giuliani and Kirk are set to be honored.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
