Charlie Kirk began what would be his final appearance on a college campus on Wednesday in a debate about religion.
For about eight minutes at a Utah Valley University event in Orem, Mr. Kirk engaged in a theological debate about Mormonism versus Christianity. The first audience member who took the mic told Mr. Kirk, an evangelical Christian, that Mormonism is more historically accurate than Protestantism. Mr. Kirk, who sat in a white T-shirt and black pants before a crowd of about 3,000 people, swatted a fly as he listened and prepared his response.
“First of all, I love Mormons,” said Mr. Kirk, 31, seemingly aware of his audience in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered and has 2.2 million members.
Mr. Kirk has appeared at hundreds of college campuses nationwide, and even internationally at universities like Oxford and Cambridge in England, as part of his political activism with Turning Point USA, the organization he founded in 2012.
The event at Utah Valley was the first scheduled stop on his “American Comeback” tour at U.S. colleges.
The New York Times examined footage of the event that was recorded by a news producer at The UVU Review, the university’s student newspaper.
In his signature style, Mr. Kirk peppered his debate on Wednesday with cutting jokes..
“I love how Mormons have more kids than they can afford,” he said early on, after he pointed out members of his own team who he said were Mormon.
“You’ve got to get your mojo back,” he continued. “No more of this L.G.B.T. stuff.”
The crowd roared in response.
The second person who stepped forward to debate Mr. Kirk would be the last person to speak with him. Hunter Kozak, 29, took the microphone to engage Mr. Kirk on the subject of mass shootings, and how rare it is for them to be committed by transgender people.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” asked Mr. Kozak.
“Too many,” Mr. Kirk quickly responded, again to thunderous applause from the crowd.
The two men went back and forth once more — before the bullet pierced Mr. Kirk’s neck, about 10 minutes into his appearance.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
Allison McCann is a reporter and graphics editor at The Times who covers immigration.
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