Charlie Kirk ‘had no fear’ going into Utah event, says close friend

A close friend who spoke with Charlie Kirk as the Turning Point USA Founder made his way to Utah told Fox News Digital that Kirk had “no fear” before his assassination on Wednesday.

Brilyn Hollyhand, a 19-year-old political commentator and friend of Kirk’s, was texting with Kirk before the father of two was shot and killed while speaking on his American Comeback Tour. 

“He was super energetic and excited,” Hollyhand told Fox News Digital. “The comment [Kirk] made was like, this is going to be a big win, this is going to be the time that we keep Gen Z engaged in a non-election year.”

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Kirk was killed by an assassin while speaking under a tent at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. A single shot rang out among the crowd of thousands and a bullet struck the 31-year-old. Kirk was transferred to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Kirk’s confidence and determination to embrace debate and put on large-scale events, despite threats, was nothing new, according to Hollyhand, who told Fox “in the 10 years that I’ve known Charlie Kirk, has he ever been afraid of one day.”

“I’ve been in the green room with him at least half a dozen times when his security team let him know that there’s some kind of threat, either physically or a threat has been made, and he’s got to hold and wait in this holding room until the said threat is cleared,” Hollyhand explained.

Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

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“It was never like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going to pack up and leave. We’re going to go back to the safety of our home, and we’re not going to go to campuses anymore.'”

Hollyhand also saw Kirk being accosted in public, saying that despite being confronted at restaurants and various events that “at no point was there ever fear in [Kirk’s] eyes.”

The 19-year-old political activist also said he plans to carry out Kirk’s legacy, and that he will even be speaking at an upcoming Liberty…