NEW YORK (AP) — West Nile virus infections are intense so far this year, with case counts running 40% higher than normal, health officials say.

More than 770 cases, including about 490 severe cases, were reported as of early September, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/west-nile-virus/data-maps/current-year-data.html">data posted this week</a>. About 550 cases — 350 of them severe — are usually reported by this time of year.

Health officials are ramping up warnings to the public, because most cases of the mosquito-borne disease are reported in August and September.

“West Nile virus can be a very serious disease and its presence in mosquitoes remains high right now in Massachusetts,” said the state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Robbie Goldstein, in a statement last week.

People can protect themselves by wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants when possible, and using an EPA-registered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mosquito-repellent-cdc-recommends-e47c0c35ffe49d6f36b39d03f1b95e06">insect repellent</a>&nbsp;when spending time outdoors, health officials say.

West Nile virus was first reported in the United States in 1999 in New York, and then gradually spread across the country. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/west-nile-virus/data-maps/historic-data.html">peaked</a>&nbsp;in 2003, when nearly 10,000 cases were reported.

Scientists say many people — perhaps tens of thousands each year — are infected but don’t know it because they have no symptoms, or only mild ones such as headaches, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea and rashes.

In severe cases, damage to the central nervous system causes inflammation of the brain or spinal cord, and even death.

In the last decade, health officials have fielded reports of 2,000 cases annually on average, including 1,200 life-threatening neurological illnesses and approximately 120 deaths. Deaths are on pace to be higher this year, CDC officials said, but they declined to discuss specifics, saying mortality statistics are too preliminary.

The problem is not that there are more mosquitoes this year, but rather that a higher proportion of the bugs are carrying the virus, CDC officials said. Mosquito infection rates can be affected by such factors as temperature, rainfall, the amount of insect control going on, and how many nearby birds are infected.

Colorado, which tends to see more West Nile virus, has reported about 150 of the nation’s cases — more than double what other states are reporting.

Fort Collins is a hot spot. Monitoring last month in an area in the southwest part of the city found that 35 out of every 1,000 female mosquitoes were infected — far higher than the 8 per 1,000 that would be expected for that time of year — said Roxanne Connelly, a CDC entomologist who lives there.

It's not clear why, but she noted it's been a wet and warm year.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757619113812.png" alt="Image KDHI from data updated Sept. 5" />
                        <figcaption>Image KDHI from data updated Sept. 5</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>NEW YORK (AP) — West Nile virus infections are intense so far this year, with case counts running 40% higher than normal, health officials say.</p><p>More than 770 cases, including about 490 severe cases, were reported as of early September, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/west-nile-virus/data-maps/current-year-data.html">data posted this week</a>. About 550 cases — 350 of them severe — are usually reported by this time of year.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720035619901.jpg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
                        <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Health officials are ramping up warnings to the public, because most cases of the mosquito-borne disease are reported in August and September.</p><p>“West Nile virus can be a very serious disease and its presence in mosquitoes remains high right now in Massachusetts,” said the state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Robbie Goldstein, in a statement last week.</p><p>People can protect themselves by wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants when possible, and using an EPA-registered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mosquito-repellent-cdc-recommends-e47c0c35ffe49d6f36b39d03f1b95e06">insect repellent</a>&nbsp;when spending time outdoors, health officials say.</p><p>West Nile virus was first reported in the United States in 1999 in New York, and then gradually spread across the country. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/west-nile-virus/data-maps/historic-data.html">peaked</a>&nbsp;in 2003, when nearly 10,000 cases were reported.</p><p>Scientists say many people — perhaps tens of thousands each year — are infected but don’t know it because they have no symptoms, or only mild ones such as headaches, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea and rashes.</p><p>In severe cases, damage to the central nervous system causes inflammation of the brain or spinal cord, and even death.</p><p>In the last decade, health officials have fielded reports of 2,000 cases annually on average, including 1,200 life-threatening neurological illnesses and approximately 120 deaths. Deaths are on pace to be higher this year, CDC officials said, but they declined to discuss specifics, saying mortality statistics are too preliminary.</p><p>The problem is not that there are more mosquitoes this year, but rather that a higher proportion of the bugs are carrying the virus, CDC officials said. Mosquito infection rates can be affected by such factors as temperature, rainfall, the amount of insect control going on, and how many nearby birds are infected.</p><p>Colorado, which tends to see more West Nile virus, has reported about 150 of the nation’s cases — more than double what other states are reporting.</p><p>Fort Collins is a hot spot. Monitoring last month in an area in the southwest part of the city found that 35 out of every 1,000 female mosquitoes were infected — far higher than the 8 per 1,000 that would be expected for that time of year — said Roxanne Connelly, a CDC entomologist who lives there.</p><p>It's not clear why, but she noted it's been a wet and warm year.</p><p>___</p><p>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.</p>

West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a close vote, Senate Republicans defeated an effort Wednesday by Democrats to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill that would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a>.

The Senate voted 51-49 to dismiss the changes to the bill, with Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky joining with all Democrats in opposition. Kansas U.S. Senators Jery Moran and Roger Marshall voted with the majority.

For months, Democrats have clamored for the release of what’s become known as the Epstein files, looking for practically every opportunity to force Republicans to either join their push for disclosure or publicly oppose a cause that many in the Republican base support. President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;signaled as he was running for president that he was open to releasing a full accounting of the case, but is now trying to dismiss the push as a “Democrat hoax.”

So far, Democrats have been successful in forcing Republican leadership to grapple with the issue, yet it was unclear whether they would actually be able to crack Trump’s hold on congressional Republicans to force legislation through Congress.

“I ask my Republican colleagues, after all those years you spent calling for accountability, for transparency, for getting to the bottom of these awful crimes, why won’t you vote yes?” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday.

The New York Democrat maneuvered earlier Wednesday to force a procedural vote on language that would force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, inserting it into an annual defense policy bill that Congress has to pass. Senate Republican leadership was then forced to hold a vote to dispense with Schumer’s amendment, arguing that he was inserting political gamesmanship into defense legislation that often enjoys bipartisan support.

“This is not the right way to do it,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said earlier this week that the Justice Department “has already released tons of files” on Epstein.

“I trust them in terms of having the confidence that they’ll get as much information out there as possible in a way that protects the rights of the victims,” added Thune, R-S.D.

Still, many in the Republican base — as well as some&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-survivors-congress-trump-5d980740245f935c994a90b8ce824642">victims of Epstein’s abuse</a>&nbsp;— have been unsatisfied with what the Justice Department has so far released.

The calls for disclosure of Epstein’s case has at moments consumed Congress, looming over politics even more than when Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls. The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6184561-Jeffrey-Epstein-indictment.html" target="_blank">was accused</a>&nbsp;of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.

Asked by reporters Wednesday why Democrats had not pushed for disclosure when they controlled the White House, Schumer responded, “It’s become so apparent that they’re lying about it in every different way and the demands of the American people are so great.”

“The need is greater than ever now,” he added.

Meanwhile, a separate effort to force a vote on a similar bill in the House inched ahead.

Democrats picked up one more House seat when Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., was sworn into office after winning a special election this week. It gives them one more supporter for a procedure — called a discharge petition — to maneuver around Republican leadership’s control of the House floor and hold a vote on legislation to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.

Four Republicans have also signed onto the discharge petition, meaning that it is just one name short of having the support needed to potentially force a vote. That could come as soon as the end of this month when a heavily blue congressional district in Arizona holds a special election to fill a vacant seat.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704330351229.png" alt="Jeffrey Epstein photo New York Sex Offender Registry" />
                        <figcaption>Jeffrey Epstein photo New York Sex Offender Registry</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>WASHINGTON (AP) — In a close vote, Senate Republicans defeated an effort Wednesday by Democrats to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill that would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a>.</p><p>The Senate voted 51-49 to dismiss the changes to the bill, with Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky joining with all Democrats in opposition. Kansas U.S. Senators Jery Moran and Roger Marshall voted with the majority.</p><p>For months, Democrats have clamored for the release of what’s become known as the Epstein files, looking for practically every opportunity to force Republicans to either join their push for disclosure or publicly oppose a cause that many in the Republican base support. President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;signaled as he was running for president that he was open to releasing a full accounting of the case, but is now trying to dismiss the push as a “Democrat hoax.”</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨🚨HERE IT IS: We got Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn’t exist.<br><br>Trump talks about a “wonderful secret” the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files! <a href="https://t.co/k2Mq8Hu3LY">pic.twitter.com/k2Mq8Hu3LY</a></p>&mdash; Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) <a href="https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/1965125560016994708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEW PAGE FROM EPSTEIN’S BIRTHDAY BOOK: Epstein and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a &quot;fully depreciated&quot; woman to Donald Trump for $22,500. <a href="https://t.co/iEMNSRX7X8">pic.twitter.com/iEMNSRX7X8</a></p>&mdash; Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) <a href="https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/1965175322590237091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>So far, Democrats have been successful in forcing Republican leadership to grapple with the issue, yet it was unclear whether they would actually be able to crack Trump’s hold on congressional Republicans to force legislation through Congress.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING NEWS: I just filed an amendment on the Senate Floor to REQUIRE the Attorney General to release the Epstein files.<br><br>Republicans will HAVE TO vote on it. We’re going to keep fighting until these files are released. <a href="https://t.co/bHFGNnuk3T">pic.twitter.com/bHFGNnuk3T</a></p>&mdash; Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/1965800573510574463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>“I ask my Republican colleagues, after all those years you spent calling for accountability, for transparency, for getting to the bottom of these awful crimes, why won’t you vote yes?” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday.</p><p>The New York Democrat maneuvered earlier Wednesday to force a procedural vote on language that would force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, inserting it into an annual defense policy bill that Congress has to pass. Senate Republican leadership was then forced to hold a vote to dispense with Schumer’s amendment, arguing that he was inserting political gamesmanship into defense legislation that often enjoys bipartisan support.</p><p>“This is not the right way to do it,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican.</p><p>Senate Majority Leader John Thune said earlier this week that the Justice Department “has already released tons of files” on Epstein.</p><p>“I trust them in terms of having the confidence that they’ll get as much information out there as possible in a way that protects the rights of the victims,” added Thune, R-S.D.</p><p>Still, many in the Republican base — as well as some&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-survivors-congress-trump-5d980740245f935c994a90b8ce824642">victims of Epstein’s abuse</a>&nbsp;— have been unsatisfied with what the Justice Department has so far released.</p><p>The calls for disclosure of Epstein’s case has at moments consumed Congress, looming over politics even more than when Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls. The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6184561-Jeffrey-Epstein-indictment.html" target="_blank">was accused</a>&nbsp;of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.</p><p>Asked by reporters Wednesday why Democrats had not pushed for disclosure when they controlled the White House, Schumer responded, “It’s become so apparent that they’re lying about it in every different way and the demands of the American people are so great.”</p><p>“The need is greater than ever now,” he added.</p><p>Meanwhile, a separate effort to force a vote on a similar bill in the House inched ahead.</p><p>Democrats picked up one more House seat when Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., was sworn into office after winning a special election this week. It gives them one more supporter for a procedure — called a discharge petition — to maneuver around Republican leadership’s control of the House floor and hold a vote on legislation to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.</p><p>Four Republicans have also signed onto the discharge petition, meaning that it is just one name short of having the support needed to potentially force a vote. That could come as soon as the end of this month when a heavily blue congressional district in Arizona holds a special election to fill a vacant seat.</p>

Moran, Marshall vote to stop Dems' effort to force release of Epstein files

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man charged in the death of his pregnant girlfriend returned to court Thursday.

Matthew Wayne Criscenzo, 20,&nbsp; pleaded not guilty in Judge Jeffrey Goering's courtroom, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; He was&nbsp; charged with 1st degree murder and aggravated battery, in the shooting death of 20-year-old Naomi Oglesby.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man charged in the death of his pregnant girlfriend will return to court Thursday afternoon.

Matthew Wayne Criscenzo, 20, is scheduled to attend a plea hearing before Judge Jeffrey Goering, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. He is&nbsp; charged with 1st degree murder and aggravated battery, according to the&nbsp; District Attorney's office.&nbsp;

On May 25, police arrested&nbsp; Criscenzo in the 700 Block of Laura Street in Wichita in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Naomi Oglesby of Wichita. At the time of the incident, she was pregnant, according to Officer Rick Pena. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, she was pronounced deceasd.

Doctors were able to deliver her infant who was transported the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a Wichita hospital.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1748340707658.png" alt="Naomi Oglesby photo GoFundMe" />
                        <figcaption>Naomi Oglesby photo GoFundMe</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man charged in the death of his pregnant girlfriend returned to court Thursday.</p><p>Matthew Wayne Criscenzo, 20,&nbsp; pleaded not guilty in Judge Jeffrey Goering's courtroom, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.&nbsp; He was&nbsp; charged with 1st degree murder and aggravated battery, in the shooting death of 20-year-old Naomi Oglesby.</p><p>-------------</p><p>SEDGWICK COUNTY — A Kansas man charged in the death of his pregnant girlfriend will return to court Thursday afternoon.</p><p>Matthew Wayne Criscenzo, 20, is scheduled to attend a plea hearing before Judge Jeffrey Goering, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. He is&nbsp; charged with 1st degree murder and aggravated battery, according to the&nbsp; District Attorney's office.&nbsp;</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1748259337812.png" alt="Criscenzo-photo Sedgwick Counthy" />
                        <figcaption>Criscenzo-photo Sedgwick Counthy</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>On May 25, police arrested&nbsp; Criscenzo in the 700 Block of Laura Street in Wichita in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Naomi Oglesby of Wichita. At the time of the incident, she was pregnant, according to Officer Rick Pena. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, she was pronounced deceasd.</p><p>Doctors were able to deliver her infant who was transported the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a Wichita hospital.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Plea hearing for Kan. man accused of killing pregnant girlfriend

OREM, Utah (AP) — The FBI released two photos of a person of interest in the assassination of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters. The shooter, who fired a single shot from a distant roof, remained at large and unidentified on Thursday nearly 24 hours into the investigation.

The release of photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt, as well as a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, reflected law enforcement's urgent appeal for public help in locating the gunman, who vanished after jumping off the roof and fleeing through a wooded area near the Utah university where Kirk was killed in a targeted attack.

Investigators were sifting through potential clues, including a palm print and a shoe impression found near the scene, as well as a Mauser .30-caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the path the shooter took while fleeing. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.

The new information suggested at least modest progress in an investigation into a killing that law enforcement was treating as the latest instance of political violence to convulse the United States across the ideological spectrum. Yet key questions remained unanswered. Law enforcement had yet to identify the shooter or disclose a motive and acknowledged at a news conference Thursday that the suspect's college-age appearance may have helped the person blend in on the college campus where Kirk was shot.

The Wednesday afternoon attack, carried out in a broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues at a Utah Valley University courtyard, was captured on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-video-graphic-online-social-media-6cfd4dfde356b960aeea69c01ea3ec34">grisly videos circulating on social media</a>. The videos show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

Kirk’s casket was to be flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where his his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based.

OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.

The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/ap-reporter-describes-scene-after-charlie-kirk-was-shot-5ced708431fe4fbea765fb13102eff34">the university campus where Kirk was killed</a>&nbsp;Wednesday, said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. It remained unclear how far the shooter has traveled, though law enforcement officials say nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.

Even as law enforcement officials revealed new details about an attack they called targeted, much remained unclear nearly 24 hours later, including the sniper's identity, motive and whereabouts. Two people detained Wednesday were released after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting, but by Thursday officials expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter's movements on campus in the run-up to it.

Later Thursday, the FBI released two photos of a person of interest in connection with the shooting as investigators appealed to the public for information. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt.

Law enforcement recovered a Mauser .30 caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.

Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard. The circumstances brought renewed attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-assassination-minnesota-trump-3c750cff0749633872ab6101bfa23b23">the escalating threat of political violence</a>&nbsp;in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The killing drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.

The attack was captured on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-video-graphic-online-social-media-6cfd4dfde356b960aeea69c01ea3ec34">grisly videos circulating on social media</a>&nbsp;that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump's second Republican administration, Vance wrote.

<p>OREM, Utah (AP) — The FBI released two photos of a person of interest in the assassination of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters. The shooter, who fired a single shot from a distant roof, remained at large and unidentified on Thursday nearly 24 hours into the investigation.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We are asking for the public&#39;s help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. <br>1-800-CALL-FBI<br>Digital media tips: <a href="https://t.co/K7maX81TjJ">https://t.co/K7maX81TjJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/ALuVkTXuDc">pic.twitter.com/ALuVkTXuDc</a></p>&mdash; FBI Salt Lake City (@FBISaltLakeCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBISaltLakeCity/status/1966169520403525760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The release of photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt, as well as a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, reflected law enforcement's urgent appeal for public help in locating the gunman, who vanished after jumping off the roof and fleeing through a wooded area near the Utah university where Kirk was killed in a targeted attack.</p><p>Investigators were sifting through potential clues, including a palm print and a shoe impression found near the scene, as well as a Mauser .30-caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the path the shooter took while fleeing. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.</p><p>The new information suggested at least modest progress in an investigation into a killing that law enforcement was treating as the latest instance of political violence to convulse the United States across the ideological spectrum. Yet key questions remained unanswered. Law enforcement had yet to identify the shooter or disclose a motive and acknowledged at a news conference Thursday that the suspect's college-age appearance may have helped the person blend in on the college campus where Kirk was shot.</p><p>The Wednesday afternoon attack, carried out in a broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues at a Utah Valley University courtyard, was captured on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-video-graphic-online-social-media-6cfd4dfde356b960aeea69c01ea3ec34">grisly videos circulating on social media</a>. The videos show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.</p><p>Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting.</p><p>“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”</p><p>Kirk’s casket was to be flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where his his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based.</p><p>-----------</p><p>OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.</p><p>The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/ap-reporter-describes-scene-after-charlie-kirk-was-shot-5ced708431fe4fbea765fb13102eff34">the university campus where Kirk was killed</a>&nbsp;Wednesday, said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. It remained unclear how far the shooter has traveled, though law enforcement officials say nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.</p><p>Even as law enforcement officials revealed new details about an attack they called targeted, much remained unclear nearly 24 hours later, including the sniper's identity, motive and whereabouts. Two people detained Wednesday were released after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting, but by Thursday officials expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter's movements on campus in the run-up to it.</p><p>Later Thursday, the FBI released two photos of a person of interest in connection with the shooting as investigators appealed to the public for information. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt.</p><p>Law enforcement recovered a Mauser .30 caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.</p><p>Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard. The circumstances brought renewed attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-assassination-minnesota-trump-3c750cff0749633872ab6101bfa23b23">the escalating threat of political violence</a>&nbsp;in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The killing drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.</p><p>The attack was captured on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-video-graphic-online-social-media-6cfd4dfde356b960aeea69c01ea3ec34">grisly videos circulating on social media</a>&nbsp;that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.</p><p>Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump's second Republican administration, Vance wrote.</p><p>“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”</p>

FBI releases images of person of interest in Charlie Kirk assassination

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/makiya-seminera">MAKIYA SEMINERA</a><br>Associated Press

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Trump administration restrictions on services for immigrants in the country illegally, including the federal preschool program&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/head-start-office-closures-hhs-trump-00b1a6b33ef918cb66e59b7ffb07ac13">Head Start</a>, health clinics and adult education.

The order from the judge in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island applies to 20 states and the District of Columbia, whose attorneys general, all Democrats, sued the administration. It puts the administration’s reinterpretation of a Clinton-era federal policy on hold while the case is decided.

Under the proposed changes, some community-level programs would be reclassified as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/poll-government-spending-medicare-medicaid-social-security-0ccb0538c06d715b43bbbcaa4a1348cf">federal public benefits</a>, making them inaccessible to people without legal status. Individual public benefits, such as food stamps and college financial aid, have been largely unavailable to people in the country without legal status.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, said in her order that the policy rollout was “rushed” in a way that would worsen the impact for people cut off from community services and those tasked with verifying eligibility.

“The Government argues that it has somehow interpreted this statute incorrectly for the nearly thirty years that it has been the law,” McElroy wrote. “In its view, everyone ... has misunderstood it from the start — at least until last month, when the right way to read it became clear to the Government. The Court is skeptical of that.”

Messages seeking comment were left with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Education Department, the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice, which each were named as defendants.

The states’ lawsuit argued the government failed to follow the rulemaking process and did not provide the required notice on conditions placed on federal funds.

The rule changes had been paused initially within the states that sued after they reached a temporary agreement with the Trump administration.

“With this victory, we are protecting children’s education, safeguarding critical health care, and preserving the safety net that keeps families afloat,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

Proponents of Head Start immediately voiced concern that the new policy would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-medicaid-health-illegal-985fb65ee53095d5cedf39bdac58500f">harm immigrant communities</a>&nbsp;by taking away health services and educational opportunities. The administrative burdens of implementing the new rule would cause many under-resourced Head Start programs to close, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.

The federal government said it interprets Head Start as a federal public benefit, similar to welfare programs that exclude immigrants in the country illegally.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-f-kennedy-jr">Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr</a>, whose agency oversees Head Start, said the directive would stop diverting “hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration.”

In addition to preserving Head Start access, the lawsuit also sought to block the restrictions on other federal programs, including substance abuse services, mental health resources in schools, career and technical education, and job training opportunities.

<p>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/makiya-seminera">MAKIYA SEMINERA</a><br>Associated Press</p><p>A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Trump administration restrictions on services for immigrants in the country illegally, including the federal preschool program&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/head-start-office-closures-hhs-trump-00b1a6b33ef918cb66e59b7ffb07ac13">Head Start</a>, health clinics and adult education.</p><p>The order from the judge in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island applies to 20 states and the District of Columbia, whose attorneys general, all Democrats, sued the administration. It puts the administration’s reinterpretation of a Clinton-era federal policy on hold while the case is decided.</p><p>Under the proposed changes, some community-level programs would be reclassified as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/poll-government-spending-medicare-medicaid-social-security-0ccb0538c06d715b43bbbcaa4a1348cf">federal public benefits</a>, making them inaccessible to people without legal status. Individual public benefits, such as food stamps and college financial aid, have been largely unavailable to people in the country without legal status.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, said in her order that the policy rollout was “rushed” in a way that would worsen the impact for people cut off from community services and those tasked with verifying eligibility.</p><p>“The Government argues that it has somehow interpreted this statute incorrectly for the nearly thirty years that it has been the law,” McElroy wrote. “In its view, everyone ... has misunderstood it from the start — at least until last month, when the right way to read it became clear to the Government. The Court is skeptical of that.”</p><p>Messages seeking comment were left with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Education Department, the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice, which each were named as defendants.</p><p>The states’ lawsuit argued the government failed to follow the rulemaking process and did not provide the required notice on conditions placed on federal funds.</p><p>The rule changes had been paused initially within the states that sued after they reached a temporary agreement with the Trump administration.</p><p>“With this victory, we are protecting children’s education, safeguarding critical health care, and preserving the safety net that keeps families afloat,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.</p><p>Proponents of Head Start immediately voiced concern that the new policy would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-medicaid-health-illegal-985fb65ee53095d5cedf39bdac58500f">harm immigrant communities</a>&nbsp;by taking away health services and educational opportunities. The administrative burdens of implementing the new rule would cause many under-resourced Head Start programs to close, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.</p><p>The federal government said it interprets Head Start as a federal public benefit, similar to welfare programs that exclude immigrants in the country illegally.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/robert-f-kennedy-jr">Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr</a>, whose agency oversees Head Start, said the directive would stop diverting “hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration.”</p><p>In addition to preserving Head Start access, the lawsuit also sought to block the restrictions on other federal programs, including substance abuse services, mental health resources in schools, career and technical education, and job training opportunities.</p>

Judge blocks policy cutting off Head Start for immigrants in the US illegally

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are marking 24 years since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/september-11-attacks">the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks</a>&nbsp;with solemn ceremonies, volunteer work and other tributes honoring the victims.

Many loved ones of the nearly 3,000 people killed joined dignitaries and politicians at commemorations Thursday in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday morning, Denise Matuza, Jennifer Nilsen and Michelle Pizzo boarded a bus from Staten Island for Lower Manhattan — each wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the names and faces of their husbands, who died in the attack.

“Even 24 years later, it’s heart wrenching,” said Nilsen, whose husband, Troy Nilsen, worked at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. “It feels the same way every year.”

For Ronald Bucca, who lost his father, the FDNY fire marshal Ronald Paul Bucca, the annual memorial served as an opportunity to “educate people on that day, especially the younger generations, and learn from each other how to be resilient and deal with loss and rebuild.”

Pizzo, whose husband, Jason DeFazio, also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, hoped more people could just take one minute to reflect on the day.

“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.

The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-turning-point-e771e3967d5a6024f7cf84d5e0228fed">was shot and killed</a>&nbsp;while speaking at a college in Utah.

The reading of names and moments of silence

Kirk’s killing prompted additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.

FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/charlie-kirk-shooting-response-updates#00000199-389b-da74-a3bf-ffdf5b250000">set to visit with Kirk’s family</a>&nbsp;on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.

Many in the ground zero crowd held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers.

Family members then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving short remembrances and well wishes to their lost loved ones.

Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.

“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed everyday. We will always say your name and we will always fight for justice.”

Zoe Doyle, daughter of equity trader Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that has built 16 schools in South Africa and feeds and educates thousands of children there each day.

“We love and miss you so much,” Doyle said.

At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military were being honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. The president was then expected to head to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers Thursday evening.

And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence, the reading of names and the laying of wreaths, honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.

People across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charity works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.

In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.

The attacks reverberated globally and altered the course of U.S. policy, both domestically and overseas. It led to the “&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/077ff9b545584e4d8936e12cde859192">Global War on Terrorism</a>&nbsp;” and the U.S.-led invasions of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-islamic-state-group-e10e038baea732dae879c11234507f81">Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iraq-anniversary-refugee-asylum-debf2c74a9f5acc5d6562647d2bef94f">Iraq</a>&nbsp;and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.

While the hijackers died in the attacks, the U.S. government has struggled to conclude its long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.

The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National Sept. 11 memorial and Museum, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.

The Trump administration has been contemplating ways that the federal government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-museum-trump-federal-takeover-new-york-6b335a4b9dab79ef12e19282d631a28a">might take control</a>&nbsp;of the memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are now run by a public charity currently chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic. Trump has spoken of possibly making the site a national monument.

In the years since the attacks, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-new-york-manhattan-9c1d95d9344564981558fa6c54f70c56">exposed to the toxic dust</a>&nbsp;that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed. More than 140,000 people are still enrolled in monitoring programs intended to identify those with health conditions that could potentially be linked to hazardous materials in the soot.

<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are marking 24 years since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/september-11-attacks">the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks</a>&nbsp;with solemn ceremonies, volunteer work and other tributes honoring the victims.</p><p>Many loved ones of the nearly 3,000 people killed joined dignitaries and politicians at commemorations Thursday in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pay respects at the Pentagon. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/September11?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#September11</a> <a href="https://t.co/YCQxPwTdd9">pic.twitter.com/YCQxPwTdd9</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1966156710516535597?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">American flag unfurled at the Pentagon. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/September11?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#September11</a> <a href="https://t.co/LfRZnhj6jl">pic.twitter.com/LfRZnhj6jl</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1966094979928916467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/HGH3yQKdO7">https://t.co/HGH3yQKdO7</a></p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1966125485894648215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> arrive at the Pentagon on the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks <a href="https://t.co/OWMKaYbiFm">pic.twitter.com/OWMKaYbiFm</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1966126089706611011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> stand for the National Anthem alongside <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> and the <a href="https://twitter.com/thejointstaff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thejointstaff</a> Chairman at the Pentagon 9/11 observance ceremony. <a href="https://t.co/9cBaXxPaIZ">pic.twitter.com/9cBaXxPaIZ</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1966126949019038115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rudy Giuliani, Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg -- 9/11 memorial ceremony NYC <a href="https://t.co/vzp8nK2H6Y">pic.twitter.com/vzp8nK2H6Y</a></p>&mdash; Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1966119847542272100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> honors the memory of Army Lieutenant Colonel Kip Taylor, a young father who was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.<br><br>Kip&#39;s son, Luke, is now a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/qlmYXdP95t">pic.twitter.com/qlmYXdP95t</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1966143280980312241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> &quot;Twenty-four years ago, Islamist terrorists massacred nearly three thousand innocent American lives in New York City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania and right here at the Pentagon.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Eii2fqH8JL">pic.twitter.com/Eii2fqH8JL</a></p>&mdash; DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/1966138258553024803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> &quot;An entire generation of warriors step forward, willing to pay the ultimate price to exact retribution and secure our country.<br><br>Forged in the crucible of Afghanistan and Iraq, we stood watch in distant lands on dangerous missions, often in retrospect, nebulous missions.… <a href="https://t.co/jjp9e2f20h">pic.twitter.com/jjp9e2f20h</a></p>&mdash; DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/1966139296345370630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@secwar</a> &quot;Here today, we honor those 184 rings of the bell... souls lost at the Pentagon and on Flight 77. <br><br>Even as first responders were grossly outnumbered by the wounded. Many ran toward the chaos.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/K8HBtaM3ty">pic.twitter.com/K8HBtaM3ty</a></p>&mdash; DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/1966140291758629333?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>On Thursday morning, Denise Matuza, Jennifer Nilsen and Michelle Pizzo boarded a bus from Staten Island for Lower Manhattan — each wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the names and faces of their husbands, who died in the attack.</p><p>“Even 24 years later, it’s heart wrenching,” said Nilsen, whose husband, Troy Nilsen, worked at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. “It feels the same way every year.”</p><p>For Ronald Bucca, who lost his father, the FDNY fire marshal Ronald Paul Bucca, the annual memorial served as an opportunity to “educate people on that day, especially the younger generations, and learn from each other how to be resilient and deal with loss and rebuild.”</p><p>Pizzo, whose husband, Jason DeFazio, also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, hoped more people could just take one minute to reflect on the day.</p><p>“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.</p><p>The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-turning-point-e771e3967d5a6024f7cf84d5e0228fed">was shot and killed</a>&nbsp;while speaking at a college in Utah.</p><h2>The reading of names and moments of silence</h2><p>Kirk’s killing prompted additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.</p><p>FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/charlie-kirk-shooting-response-updates#00000199-389b-da74-a3bf-ffdf5b250000">set to visit with Kirk’s family</a>&nbsp;on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.</p><p>Many in the ground zero crowd held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers.</p><p>Family members then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving short remembrances and well wishes to their lost loved ones.</p><p>Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.</p><p>“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed everyday. We will always say your name and we will always fight for justice.”</p><p>Zoe Doyle, daughter of equity trader Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that has built 16 schools in South Africa and feeds and educates thousands of children there each day.</p><p>“We love and miss you so much,” Doyle said.</p><p>At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military were being honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. The president was then expected to head to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers Thursday evening.</p><p>And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence, the reading of names and the laying of wreaths, honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.</p><p>People across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charity works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.</p><h2>Reverberations from attacks persist</h2><p>In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.</p><p>The attacks reverberated globally and altered the course of U.S. policy, both domestically and overseas. It led to the “&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/077ff9b545584e4d8936e12cde859192">Global War on Terrorism</a>&nbsp;” and the U.S.-led invasions of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-islamic-state-group-e10e038baea732dae879c11234507f81">Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iraq-anniversary-refugee-asylum-debf2c74a9f5acc5d6562647d2bef94f">Iraq</a>&nbsp;and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.</p><p>While the hijackers died in the attacks, the U.S. government has struggled to conclude its long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.</p><p>The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National Sept. 11 memorial and Museum, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.</p><p>The Trump administration has been contemplating ways that the federal government&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-museum-trump-federal-takeover-new-york-6b335a4b9dab79ef12e19282d631a28a">might take control</a>&nbsp;of the memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are now run by a public charity currently chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic. Trump has spoken of possibly making the site a national monument.</p><p>In the years since the attacks, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-new-york-manhattan-9c1d95d9344564981558fa6c54f70c56">exposed to the toxic dust</a>&nbsp;that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed. More than 140,000 people are still enrolled in monitoring programs intended to identify those with health conditions that could potentially be linked to hazardous materials in the soot.</p><p>___</p>

🎥US marks 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks

OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not yet been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they recovered a high-powered rifle.

The shooter appeared to be of “college age" and is believed to have blended in on the university campus where Kirk was shot, authorities said as they investigated the latest act of political violence to befall America.

“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.

Kirk was killed with a gunshot from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking Wednesday. Federal, state and local authorities were working what they called “multiple active crime scenes."

“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/spencer-cox">Utah Gov. Spencer Cox</a>&nbsp;said Wednesday. "I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”

Two people were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, public safety officials said.

The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-assassination-minnesota-trump-3c750cff0749633872ab6101bfa23b23">an escalating threat of political violence</a>&nbsp;in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A shot rings out, and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City. According to a person familiar with Vance’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly, the Vances will visit Utah instead of attending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-attacks-anniversary-world-trade-center-0c2af6068dd5f1cc9f71a56c8a1c0c83">an outdoor ceremony to commemorate Sept. 11</a>&nbsp;in New York.

Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up the second Trump administration, Vance wrote.

<p>OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-university-charlie-kirk-shooting-updates">Charlie Kirk</a>&nbsp;is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not yet been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they recovered a high-powered rifle.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">FBI Special Agent In Charge Robert Bohls: &quot;We have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday&#39;s shooting. It is a high powered bolt action rifle.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/OQNPXBSmut">pic.twitter.com/OQNPXBSmut</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1966131586623004918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI has created a digital media tip line seeking information regarding the shooting at Utah Valley University that took place on September 10, 2025: <a href="https://t.co/aNUqciEesp">https://t.co/aNUqciEesp</a></p>&mdash; FBI Salt Lake City (@FBISaltLakeCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBISaltLakeCity/status/1965906435054694671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI has created a digital media tip line seeking information regarding the shooting at Utah Valley University that took place on September 10, 2025: <a href="https://t.co/aNUqciEesp">https://t.co/aNUqciEesp</a></p>&mdash; FBI Salt Lake City (@FBISaltLakeCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBISaltLakeCity/status/1965906435054694671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The shooter appeared to be of “college age" and is believed to have blended in on the university campus where Kirk was shot, authorities said as they investigated the latest act of political violence to befall America.</p><p>“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.</p><p>Kirk was killed with a gunshot from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking Wednesday. Federal, state and local authorities were working what they called “multiple active crime scenes."</p><p>“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/spencer-cox">Utah Gov. Spencer Cox</a>&nbsp;said Wednesday. "I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”</p><p>Two people were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, public safety officials said.</p><p>The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-assassination-minnesota-trump-3c750cff0749633872ab6101bfa23b23">an escalating threat of political violence</a>&nbsp;in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.</p><p>Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A shot rings out, and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.</p><p>Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City. According to a person familiar with Vance’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly, the Vances will visit Utah instead of attending&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-attacks-anniversary-world-trade-center-0c2af6068dd5f1cc9f71a56c8a1c0c83">an outdoor ceremony to commemorate Sept. 11</a>&nbsp;in New York.</p><p>Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up the second Trump administration, Vance wrote.</p><p>“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”</p>

🎥 FBI gives update on their work to ID Charlie Kirk's killer 

The Republican plan, urged on by Trump and approved by the Missouri House, would split a diverse community 3 ways

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/">Jonathan Shorman</a><br><a href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a>

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/"></a>KANSAS CITY &nbsp;— A man slept on the cool, gray steps of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, the building and its columns shielding his body from the midday sun on a recent weekday. A few others lingered in the shade under nearby trees.

On Monday evenings, the more-than-century-old church in Historic Northeast Kansas City opens its doors to people in need. It offers a free meal, hygiene products, clothing and a medical clinic. Hundreds often come.

President Donald Trump’s nationwide gerrymandering push has now also arrived at the church’s literal doorstep.

Northeast Kansas City currently sits comfortably inside Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which encompasses much of the city and the surrounding metro area. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, an 80-year-old Democrat who was the city’s first Black mayor in the 1990s, has held the seat for 20 years.

But Missouri Republicans are advancing a redrawn congressional map through the state legislature that aims to give the party a political&nbsp;advantage. It would crack the city’s urban core into three districts — with all of them converging on the corner of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, home to Independence Boulevard Christian Church.

The intersection’s southwest corner, where the church is located, would move into the 4th Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, a second-term Republican who was previously a TV news anchor.&nbsp;The southeast corner, a parking lot, would stay in&nbsp;a&nbsp;5th District&nbsp;reshaped to embrace a much more rural and conservative constituency.

The northern side, lined by red-brick apartments and a meat market, would join the 6th District. Held by Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves since 2001, it would stretch across the state to the Illinois border.

Residents say they fear that dividing the area, with its complex interplay of problems and positive qualities, will dilute their voice in Washington, D.C.

“We need somebody to understand what poverty looks like,” the Rev. Mindy Fugarino, the church’s senior pastor, told Stateline as she described her problems with the gerrymander and how it will weaken the neighborhood’s representation.

“We need somebody to understand, what are the needs for housing,” Fugarino said. “We need somebody to understand what are the needs for fair wages and health care and those kind of things in a community where people are literally living and sometimes dying on the street.”

The Missouri House passed the new map in a 90-65 vote Tuesday, sending it to the state Senate. The Senate could begin work on the map as early as Wednesday.

The Missouri gerrymander marks the latest example of a Republican-controlled state heeding Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts. Creating more GOP-leaning districts would maximize the party’s chances of retaining control of the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats, both in Missouri and across the country, have condemned the effort as election-rigging. California has retaliated by asking its voters to approve a Democratic gerrymander. Republicans say they want to ensure Congress can advance Trump’s priorities, and they emphasize that federal courts allow partisan gerrymandering.

In Kansas City, the redistricting plan has set off a bitter political battle that’s left many people feeling angry and dismissed. Stateline spoke with residents, business owners, activists and local officials in Northeast Kansas City, where three districts would divide the area, to better understand the consequences of the national gerrymandering effort at the local level.

Northeast Kansas City residents and others broadly described a diverse, multicultural community with beautiful architecture, a strong civic fabric and neighborhood pride. In the blocks immediately surrounding the intersection of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, less than a third of residents are non-Hispanic white, according to census data.

At the same time, homelessness and crime can be a part of life. Residents are balancing a need for local investment against the risks of gentrification. The poverty rate fluctuates wildly within the area, from less than 12% of residents in some blocks to more than 63% in others. Vacant storefronts are sometimes only a short walk from colorful, tidy houses.

Most community members Stateline spoke with oppose the redistricting effort.

“Nobody asked for this,” said Edgar Palacios, the founder of Latinx Education Collaborative and Revolución Educativa, nonprofit organizations based in Northeast Kansas City that seek to foster Latino representation in education locally. His own home would move into the 4th District under the plan.

Palacios, the son of Nicaraguan immigrants, worried the gerrymander would lead to new representatives for the area who won’t understand the challenges of an urban environment.

“They’re not going to understand the nuances of urban public education and they’re not going to appreciate the differences in how money gets spent or why it gets spent that way or why it’s necessary to do certain things,” Palacios said.

Dan Smith runs Eleos Coffee House on Independence Avenue. The 14-year-old coffee shop is a nondenominational Christian ministry that Smith said draws in both people coming to just work or hang out and individuals off the street wanting help.

Smith declined to offer an opinion on the redistricting proposal, but said he hoped politicians will “totally forget about those lines” when making decisions.

“Because that’s what we have to do here at Eleos,” Smith said. “We can’t draw lines, you know — ‘well, as long as you’re in this group of people or as long as you don’t identify this way or as long as you don’t do this’ — I mean, that’s not helpful for anybody.”

Trump set off a gerrymandering rush this summer in an effort to shore up Republican chances to keep control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.

He initially demanded Texas redraw its maps to potentially provide up to&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2025/08/22/as-democrats-fight-fire-with-fire-gerrymandering-opponents-seek-a-path-forward/" target="_blank">five additional GOP seats</a>, and has since urged Republicans in other states to do the same. California has retaliated and other Democratic states may follow.

Republicans in Missouri and elsewhere have been upfront that they are shuffling the map with the intention of improving their party’s standing and say their efforts are in line with a U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision that greenlit political gerrymandering. Missouri Republicans add that their proposed map splits fewer counties and cities than the current one.

“It is an improvement; it is a reform of our current congressional map,” state Rep. Dirk Deaton, the Republican sponsor of the legislation, said at a hearing last week in Jefferson City.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called a special session to pass the map, said the state’s “conservative, commonsense values, rooted in faith, family and freedom, should be truly represented at all levels of government.” He also wants lawmakers to pass a measure that would pose new hurdles to citizen-proposed constitutional amendments.

Kehoe’s office released only rough outlines of the map. After redistricting legislation was introduced in the Missouri General Assembly last week, Stateline produced a detailed map based on census block information supplied by the Missouri House that shows three congressional districts would meet at Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard.

Republicans already hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats. Cleaver is one of two Democrats, along with U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell of the 1st Congressional District in St. Louis.

At most, the new map would likely enable Republicans to take the 5th Congressional District — a single seat — at the cost of a divided Kansas City.

“Two words. One is&nbsp;‘horrible’&nbsp;and the second is&nbsp;‘divisive,’” Cleaver told reporters in Kansas City recently, summing up his reaction to the map.

Cleaver has promised to file a federal lawsuit challenging the map if it passes (other opponents are expected to file lawsuits in state court as well). Giving one example of how the gerrymander would affect the region, Cleaver said Kansas City Public Schools would have multiple U.S. representatives under the map.

“It’s conceivable that two members of Congress could be fighting each other when legislation occurs where one party takes a position and the other party takes the opposite position,” Cleaver said. “That’s absolutely crazy.”

Kansas City is home to some 516,000 people in an overall metro area of 2.2 million. The city is in the midst of a sports golden era that has been a boost to local pride: The Kansas City Chiefs have appeared in five Super Bowls over the past six years and won three; the city hosted the NFL Draft in 2023; it will host World Cup soccer matches next summer. Music star Taylor Swift’s frequent visits to the metro area to see fiancé Travis Kelce, the Chiefs player, have helped, too.

But gun violence remains a persistent problem. As other major cities have experienced falling homicide rates coming out of the pandemic, Kansas City broke its homicide record in 2023. Killings then fell last year, but nonfatal shootings jumped.

Kansas City leaders say their options to respond are constrained. Unlike nearly every major American city, Kansas City doesn’t control its police force. Instead, city-funded officers are overseen by commissioners almost entirely appointed by the governor, a policy with Civil War-era roots. And Missouri lawmakers have almost entirely preempted the city’s ability to restrict firearms.

For some Kansas Citians, the gerrymandered map strikes them as only the latest instance in a long history of Missouri exercising power with little regard for residents. The map cuts much of Kansas City into two along Troost Avenue — once a dividing line during the era of racial redlining that is still shorthand today for the split between the city’s predominantly white and Black neighborhoods.

“It’s sad that they go to this length to try, in my opinion, to disenfranchise people,” said Lonnie Beattle, a retired postal worker who said she lives in the 18th Street and Vine Street neighborhood that’s south of the Northeast Kansas City area.

The gerrymander marks a low point in the relationship between Kansas City and the Missouri Capitol, said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

But the second-term mayor, who has battled with Republicans over control of police funding, said that in this instance, the moves by lawmakers have very little do with “purported misbehavior” by the city and more to do with Trump’s demands.

Lucas said carving up Kansas City would mean city officials would have to engage in more lobbying work and more outreach to members of Congress.

“It just adds bureaucracy to a process that currently doesn’t really need it,” Lucas said. “I think everything is working fine right now. One might ask, why change? But obviously, because the president said so.”

While nearly everyone approached by Stateline voiced opposition to the proposed map, the sentiment wasn’t unanimous.

Laura Birdsong, who lives in Northeast Kansas City and calls herself conservative, said that while she understands the concerns, she also sees positives.

“I don’t think it’s an attempt to control, I think it’s an attempt to balance,” Birdsong said as she drove an all-terrain vehicle along Independence Avenue on Friday, shuttling people to and from a local food festival.

Kate Barsotti, a longtime resident of Columbus Park, a neighborhood on the western edge of Northeast Kansas City, said she knew immediately that the gerrymander would be a threat to the neighborhood, dividing it between the 4th and 6th districts. But she suggested the decision could backfire on Republicans.

Barsotti, like others interviewed, emphasized what she views as the absurdity of a congressional district that includes Kansas City stretching all the way to the Illinois border on the eastern edge of the state. Many say that placing so many rural areas into the same district as a dense urban city could upset rural, conservative voters as well.

“So if you want to fight, you’ve just declared war on your own constituents, and I can go anywhere in the state of Missouri and say to them, ‘They don’t care about you,’” Barsotti said.

Some Democrats suspect the party could potentially flip the 4th District, currently held by a Republican, if Kehoe’s proposed map is enacted. Its current boundaries include substantial rural areas but exclude most of the Kansas City metro region. Under the new map, the 4th would slice deep into Kansas City, swallowing up downtown and a lot of Democratic voters in the process.

Lucas said if the map takes effect, he would consider running in 2026 in the 4th District, where he would live. Everyone who cares about representation for Kansas City owes it to the community to make Republicans spend real resources, he said.

“And so I expect there to be a real congressional race,” the mayor said.

At Independence Boulevard Christian Church on Monday afternoon, preparations were already underway for that evening’s meal.

Tables and chairs were set up in a large basement hall, with a separate space available for families. Fugarino, the pastor, said the church expected to serve some kind of ham-and-turkey casserole.

In a few hours, their guests would arrive.

Later that afternoon and 150 miles away at the state Capitol, lawmakers would begin debating the bill that would split apart the crossroads of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard.

“I think the whole point,” Fugarino said in an interview about the gerrymander, “has nothing to do with trying to address what citizens are actually needing.”

<a href="https://stateline.org/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@stateline.org">info@stateline.org</a>.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757522745269.png" alt=" The intersection of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard in Kansas City, Mo., is shown on Sept. 4. A proposed congressional gerrymander in the Missouri General Assembly would divide the intersection among three congressional district (Jonathan Shorman/Stateline)." />
                        <figcaption> The intersection of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard in Kansas City, Mo., is shown on Sept. 4. A proposed congressional gerrymander in the Missouri General Assembly would divide the intersection among three congressional district (Jonathan Shorman/Stateline).</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>The Republican plan, urged on by Trump and approved by the Missouri House, would split a diverse community 3 ways</h2><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/">Jonathan Shorman</a><br><a href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a></p><p><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/"></a>KANSAS CITY &nbsp;— A man slept on the cool, gray steps of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, the building and its columns shielding his body from the midday sun on a recent weekday. A few others lingered in the shade under nearby trees.</p><p>On Monday evenings, the more-than-century-old church in Historic Northeast Kansas City opens its doors to people in need. It offers a free meal, hygiene products, clothing and a medical clinic. Hundreds often come.</p><p>President Donald Trump’s nationwide gerrymandering push has now also arrived at the church’s literal doorstep.</p><p>Northeast Kansas City currently sits comfortably inside Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which encompasses much of the city and the surrounding metro area. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, an 80-year-old Democrat who was the city’s first Black mayor in the 1990s, has held the seat for 20 years.</p><p>But Missouri Republicans are advancing a redrawn congressional map through the state legislature that aims to give the party a political&nbsp;advantage. It would crack the city’s urban core into three districts — with all of them converging on the corner of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, home to Independence Boulevard Christian Church.</p><p>The intersection’s southwest corner, where the church is located, would move into the 4th Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, a second-term Republican who was previously a TV news anchor.&nbsp;The southeast corner, a parking lot, would stay in&nbsp;a&nbsp;5th District&nbsp;reshaped to embrace a much more rural and conservative constituency.</p><p>The northern side, lined by red-brick apartments and a meat market, would join the 6th District. Held by Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves since 2001, it would stretch across the state to the Illinois border.</p><p>Residents say they fear that dividing the area, with its complex interplay of problems and positive qualities, will dilute their voice in Washington, D.C.</p><p>“We need somebody to understand what poverty looks like,” the Rev. Mindy Fugarino, the church’s senior pastor, told Stateline as she described her problems with the gerrymander and how it will weaken the neighborhood’s representation.</p><p>“We need somebody to understand, what are the needs for housing,” Fugarino said. “We need somebody to understand what are the needs for fair wages and health care and those kind of things in a community where people are literally living and sometimes dying on the street.”</p><p>The Missouri House passed the new map in a 90-65 vote Tuesday, sending it to the state Senate. The Senate could begin work on the map as early as Wednesday.</p><p>The Missouri gerrymander marks the latest example of a Republican-controlled state heeding Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts. Creating more GOP-leaning districts would maximize the party’s chances of retaining control of the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections.</p><p>Democrats, both in Missouri and across the country, have condemned the effort as election-rigging. California has retaliated by asking its voters to approve a Democratic gerrymander. Republicans say they want to ensure Congress can advance Trump’s priorities, and they emphasize that federal courts allow partisan gerrymandering.</p><p>In Kansas City, the redistricting plan has set off a bitter political battle that’s left many people feeling angry and dismissed. Stateline spoke with residents, business owners, activists and local officials in Northeast Kansas City, where three districts would divide the area, to better understand the consequences of the national gerrymandering effort at the local level.</p><p>Northeast Kansas City residents and others broadly described a diverse, multicultural community with beautiful architecture, a strong civic fabric and neighborhood pride. In the blocks immediately surrounding the intersection of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, less than a third of residents are non-Hispanic white, according to census data.</p><p>At the same time, homelessness and crime can be a part of life. Residents are balancing a need for local investment against the risks of gentrification. The poverty rate fluctuates wildly within the area, from less than 12% of residents in some blocks to more than 63% in others. Vacant storefronts are sometimes only a short walk from colorful, tidy houses.</p><p>Most community members Stateline spoke with oppose the redistricting effort.</p><p>“Nobody asked for this,” said Edgar Palacios, the founder of Latinx Education Collaborative and Revolución Educativa, nonprofit organizations based in Northeast Kansas City that seek to foster Latino representation in education locally. His own home would move into the 4th District under the plan.</p><p>Palacios, the son of Nicaraguan immigrants, worried the gerrymander would lead to new representatives for the area who won’t understand the challenges of an urban environment.</p><p>“They’re not going to understand the nuances of urban public education and they’re not going to appreciate the differences in how money gets spent or why it gets spent that way or why it’s necessary to do certain things,” Palacios said.</p><p>Dan Smith runs Eleos Coffee House on Independence Avenue. The 14-year-old coffee shop is a nondenominational Christian ministry that Smith said draws in both people coming to just work or hang out and individuals off the street wanting help.</p><p>Smith declined to offer an opinion on the redistricting proposal, but said he hoped politicians will “totally forget about those lines” when making decisions.</p><p>“Because that’s what we have to do here at Eleos,” Smith said. “We can’t draw lines, you know — ‘well, as long as you’re in this group of people or as long as you don’t identify this way or as long as you don’t do this’ — I mean, that’s not helpful for anybody.”</p><h2>Republicans say maps are improvement</h2><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757068209585.png" alt=" State Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, presents legislation that would redraw Missouri’s congressional map to a House committee on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
                        <figcaption> State Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, presents legislation that would redraw Missouri’s congressional map to a House committee on Thursday (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Trump set off a gerrymandering rush this summer in an effort to shore up Republican chances to keep control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.</p><p>He initially demanded Texas redraw its maps to potentially provide up to&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2025/08/22/as-democrats-fight-fire-with-fire-gerrymandering-opponents-seek-a-path-forward/" target="_blank">five additional GOP seats</a>, and has since urged Republicans in other states to do the same. California has retaliated and other Democratic states may follow.</p><p>Republicans in Missouri and elsewhere have been upfront that they are shuffling the map with the intention of improving their party’s standing and say their efforts are in line with a U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision that greenlit political gerrymandering. Missouri Republicans add that their proposed map splits fewer counties and cities than the current one.</p><p>“It is an improvement; it is a reform of our current congressional map,” state Rep. Dirk Deaton, the Republican sponsor of the legislation, said at a hearing last week in Jefferson City.</p><p>Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called a special session to pass the map, said the state’s “conservative, commonsense values, rooted in faith, family and freedom, should be truly represented at all levels of government.” He also wants lawmakers to pass a measure that would pose new hurdles to citizen-proposed constitutional amendments.</p><p>Kehoe’s office released only rough outlines of the map. After redistricting legislation was introduced in the Missouri General Assembly last week, Stateline produced a detailed map based on census block information supplied by the Missouri House that shows three congressional districts would meet at Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard.</p><p>Republicans already hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats. Cleaver is one of two Democrats, along with U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell of the 1st Congressional District in St. Louis.</p><p>At most, the new map would likely enable Republicans to take the 5th Congressional District — a single seat — at the cost of a divided Kansas City.</p><p>“Two words. One is&nbsp;‘horrible’&nbsp;and the second is&nbsp;‘divisive,’” Cleaver told reporters in Kansas City recently, summing up his reaction to the map.</p><p>Cleaver has promised to file a federal lawsuit challenging the map if it passes (other opponents are expected to file lawsuits in state court as well). Giving one example of how the gerrymander would affect the region, Cleaver said Kansas City Public Schools would have multiple U.S. representatives under the map.</p><p>“It’s conceivable that two members of Congress could be fighting each other when legislation occurs where one party takes a position and the other party takes the opposite position,” Cleaver said. “That’s absolutely crazy.”</p><p>Kansas City is home to some 516,000 people in an overall metro area of 2.2 million. The city is in the midst of a sports golden era that has been a boost to local pride: The Kansas City Chiefs have appeared in five Super Bowls over the past six years and won three; the city hosted the NFL Draft in 2023; it will host World Cup soccer matches next summer. Music star Taylor Swift’s frequent visits to the metro area to see fiancé Travis Kelce, the Chiefs player, have helped, too.</p><p>But gun violence remains a persistent problem. As other major cities have experienced falling homicide rates coming out of the pandemic, Kansas City broke its homicide record in 2023. Killings then fell last year, but nonfatal shootings jumped.</p><p>Kansas City leaders say their options to respond are constrained. Unlike nearly every major American city, Kansas City doesn’t control its police force. Instead, city-funded officers are overseen by commissioners almost entirely appointed by the governor, a policy with Civil War-era roots. And Missouri lawmakers have almost entirely preempted the city’s ability to restrict firearms.</p><p>For some Kansas Citians, the gerrymandered map strikes them as only the latest instance in a long history of Missouri exercising power with little regard for residents. The map cuts much of Kansas City into two along Troost Avenue — once a dividing line during the era of racial redlining that is still shorthand today for the split between the city’s predominantly white and Black neighborhoods.</p><p>“It’s sad that they go to this length to try, in my opinion, to disenfranchise people,” said Lonnie Beattle, a retired postal worker who said she lives in the 18th Street and Vine Street neighborhood that’s south of the Northeast Kansas City area.</p><h2>Kansas City low point</h2><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757522621053.png" alt="U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver walks through the Missouri candidate filing process in February 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
                        <figcaption>U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver walks through the Missouri candidate filing process in February 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The gerrymander marks a low point in the relationship between Kansas City and the Missouri Capitol, said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.</p><p>But the second-term mayor, who has battled with Republicans over control of police funding, said that in this instance, the moves by lawmakers have very little do with “purported misbehavior” by the city and more to do with Trump’s demands.</p><p>Lucas said carving up Kansas City would mean city officials would have to engage in more lobbying work and more outreach to members of Congress.</p><p>“It just adds bureaucracy to a process that currently doesn’t really need it,” Lucas said. “I think everything is working fine right now. One might ask, why change? But obviously, because the president said so.”</p><p>While nearly everyone approached by Stateline voiced opposition to the proposed map, the sentiment wasn’t unanimous.</p><p>Laura Birdsong, who lives in Northeast Kansas City and calls herself conservative, said that while she understands the concerns, she also sees positives.</p><p>“I don’t think it’s an attempt to control, I think it’s an attempt to balance,” Birdsong said as she drove an all-terrain vehicle along Independence Avenue on Friday, shuttling people to and from a local food festival.</p><p>Kate Barsotti, a longtime resident of Columbus Park, a neighborhood on the western edge of Northeast Kansas City, said she knew immediately that the gerrymander would be a threat to the neighborhood, dividing it between the 4th and 6th districts. But she suggested the decision could backfire on Republicans.</p><p>Barsotti, like others interviewed, emphasized what she views as the absurdity of a congressional district that includes Kansas City stretching all the way to the Illinois border on the eastern edge of the state. Many say that placing so many rural areas into the same district as a dense urban city could upset rural, conservative voters as well.</p><p>“So if you want to fight, you’ve just declared war on your own constituents, and I can go anywhere in the state of Missouri and say to them, ‘They don’t care about you,’” Barsotti said.</p><p>Some Democrats suspect the party could potentially flip the 4th District, currently held by a Republican, if Kehoe’s proposed map is enacted. Its current boundaries include substantial rural areas but exclude most of the Kansas City metro region. Under the new map, the 4th would slice deep into Kansas City, swallowing up downtown and a lot of Democratic voters in the process.</p><p>Lucas said if the map takes effect, he would consider running in 2026 in the 4th District, where he would live. Everyone who cares about representation for Kansas City owes it to the community to make Republicans spend real resources, he said.</p><p>“And so I expect there to be a real congressional race,” the mayor said.</p><h2>Basic needs</h2><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757522681868.png" alt="The Rev. Mindy Fugarino, senior pastor of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, sits inside the church’s sanctuary on Monday, Sept. 8. Fugarino opposes a plan to gerrymander Missouri’s congressional districts (Jonathan Shorman/Stateline)." />
                        <figcaption>The Rev. Mindy Fugarino, senior pastor of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, sits inside the church’s sanctuary on Monday, Sept. 8. Fugarino opposes a plan to gerrymander Missouri’s congressional districts (Jonathan Shorman/Stateline).</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>At Independence Boulevard Christian Church on Monday afternoon, preparations were already underway for that evening’s meal.</p><p>Tables and chairs were set up in a large basement hall, with a separate space available for families. Fugarino, the pastor, said the church expected to serve some kind of ham-and-turkey casserole.</p><p>In a few hours, their guests would arrive.</p><p>Later that afternoon and 150 miles away at the state Capitol, lawmakers would begin debating the bill that would split apart the crossroads of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard.</p><p>“I think the whole point,” Fugarino said in an interview about the gerrymander, “has nothing to do with trying to address what citizens are actually needing.”</p><p><a href="https://stateline.org/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@stateline.org">info@stateline.org</a>.</p>

One urban crossroad, 3 new districts: Kansas City braces for redistricting

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/hannah-schoenbaum">HANNAH SCHOENBAUM</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/alanna-durkin-richer">ALANNA DURKIN RICHER</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mark-sherman">MARK SHERMAN</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/eric-tucker">ERIC TUCKER</a>

OREM, Utah (AP) — Authorities searched on Thursday for a sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-utah-university-republicans-8357c3d102de09e3320fde761258131a">Charlie Kirk</a>, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, with one bullet and then slipped away amid the mayhem resulting from the latest act of political violence to befall America.

Kirk was killed with a gunshot from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking on Wednesday, authorities said. Federal, state and local authorities were working what they called “multiple active crime scenes." As the search stretched into a second day, they provided little information about the shooter’s identity, motive, location or evidence and were reviewing grainy security videos of a mysterious person in dark clothing.

“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/spencer-cox">Utah Gov. Spencer Cox</a>&nbsp;said. "I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City. According to a person familiar with Vance’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly, the Vances will visit Utah instead of New York, which had been their planned destination for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-attacks-anniversary-world-trade-center-0c2af6068dd5f1cc9f71a56c8a1c0c83">an outdoor ceremony to commemorate Sept. 11</a>.

Vance posted a lengthy remembrance on X chronicling the origins of their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s run for the Senate and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Through the years, Vance wrote, Kirk checked in and played a pivotal role in setting up the second Trump administration.

Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.

Madison Lattin was watching only a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she said she heard the bullet hit Kirk.

“Blood is falling and dripping down and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.

She said she saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. Lattin ran while others splashed through decorative pools to get away. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede. People lost their shoes, backpacks, folding chairs and water bottles in the frenzy.

When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she said she wept, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to be determined and fight for the truth.

Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.

Trump announced the death on social media and praised the 31-year-old Kirk who was co-founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-shutdown-charlie-kirk-turning-point-afb64a04493ddf44df3b7338536a6524">Turning Point</a>&nbsp;as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.

Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated after the shooting, with officers escorting people to safety. It will be closed until Monday.

Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

Condemnation from across the political spectrum

The shooting drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-political-violence-reaction-87f6755421938d0a0d7c5905be10767f">swift condemnation</a>&nbsp;across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757541335583.png" alt="Police respond to the scene of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, who was speaking during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)" />
                        <figcaption>Police respond to the scene of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, who was speaking during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/hannah-schoenbaum">HANNAH SCHOENBAUM</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/alanna-durkin-richer">ALANNA DURKIN RICHER</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mark-sherman">MARK SHERMAN</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/eric-tucker">ERIC TUCKER</a></p><p>OREM, Utah (AP) — Authorities searched on Thursday for a sniper who assassinated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-utah-university-republicans-8357c3d102de09e3320fde761258131a">Charlie Kirk</a>, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, with one bullet and then slipped away amid the mayhem resulting from the latest act of political violence to befall America.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI has created a digital media tip line seeking information regarding the shooting at Utah Valley University that took place on September 10, 2025: <a href="https://t.co/aNUqciEesp">https://t.co/aNUqciEesp</a></p>&mdash; FBI Salt Lake City (@FBISaltLakeCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBISaltLakeCity/status/1965906435054694671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI is working alongside our local and state law enforcement partners in Utah to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Anyone with information, photos, and video from the incident can help the FBI identity more… <a href="https://t.co/JEQ22lIwfv">pic.twitter.com/JEQ22lIwfv</a></p>&mdash; FBI (@FBI) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1965962302458417304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Kirk was killed with a gunshot from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking on Wednesday, authorities said. Federal, state and local authorities were working what they called “multiple active crime scenes." As the search stretched into a second day, they provided little information about the shooter’s identity, motive, location or evidence and were reviewing grainy security videos of a mysterious person in dark clothing.</p><p>“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/spencer-cox">Utah Gov. Spencer Cox</a>&nbsp;said. "I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”</p><p>Two people were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, public safety officials said.</p><p>The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-assassination-minnesota-trump-3c750cff0749633872ab6101bfa23b23">an escalating threat of political violence</a>&nbsp;in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.</p><p>Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A shot rings out, and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.</p><p>Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City. According to a person familiar with Vance’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly, the Vances will visit Utah instead of New York, which had been their planned destination for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/911-attacks-anniversary-world-trade-center-0c2af6068dd5f1cc9f71a56c8a1c0c83">an outdoor ceremony to commemorate Sept. 11</a>.</p><p>Vance posted a lengthy remembrance on X chronicling the origins of their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s run for the Senate and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Through the years, Vance wrote, Kirk checked in and played a pivotal role in setting up the second Trump administration.</p><p>“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”</p><h2>Kirk was taking questions about gun violence</h2><p>Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.</p><p>“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”</p><p>The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”</p><p>“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.</p><p>Then a single shot rang out.</p><p>The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.</p><p>Madison Lattin was watching only a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she said she heard the bullet hit Kirk.</p><p>“Blood is falling and dripping down and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.</p><p>She said she saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. Lattin ran while others splashed through decorative pools to get away. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede. People lost their shoes, backpacks, folding chairs and water bottles in the frenzy.</p><p>When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she said she wept, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to be determined and fight for the truth.</p><h2>Trump calls Kirk ‘martyr for truth’</h2><p>Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.</p><p>Trump announced the death on social media and praised the 31-year-old Kirk who was co-founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-shutdown-charlie-kirk-turning-point-afb64a04493ddf44df3b7338536a6524">Turning Point</a>&nbsp;as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.</p><p>Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated after the shooting, with officers escorting people to safety. It will be closed until Monday.</p><p>Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.</p><p>Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”</p><p>Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”</p><h2>Condemnation from across the political spectrum</h2><p>The shooting drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-political-violence-reaction-87f6755421938d0a0d7c5905be10767f">swift condemnation</a>&nbsp;across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.</p><p>“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.</p><p>“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-0ee455e480004cbeae7dc716da2a0ddd">who was wounded in a 2011 shooting</a>&nbsp;in her Arizona district.</p><p>The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-lawmakers-killed-congress-violence-1e6a061c4265b0136ebb058a2777b85f">assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband</a>&nbsp;at their house in June, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/boulder-colorado-attack-soliman-israel-hostages-8110fb3abd3da90f36c3d970f4c26f5b">firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages</a>, and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-governor-mansion-fire-cody-balmer-cd896e2bb8f5a00a73b07b9f1013df93">fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor</a>, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-butler-assassination-attempt-54f385fbdac215b89c6df047fa399039">shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year</a>.</p><p>Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was at Wednesday’s event, told the Fox News Channel that he didn’t believe Kirk had enough security.</p><p>“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”</p><p>Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.</p><p>But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.</p><p>Despite early misgivings,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-turning-point-voter-mobilization-musk-07286c2572b02aafefdda1cda093e788">Turning Point</a>&nbsp;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.</p><p>Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.</p><p>___</p><p>Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington; Jesse Bedayn in Orem, Utah; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.</p>