Beshear orders flags at state offices to half-staff for Charlie Kirk, Patriot Day
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ordered state office buildings to lower their flags to half-staff until Sunday evening in accordance with a White House proclamation honoring the memory of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Beshear’s order, issued Wednesday evening, also pays tribute to the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the people who died that day.
Beshear also encouraged individuals, businesses and organizations to lower their flags.
Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University Wednesday afternoon, prompting widespread outrage across the political spectrum. The 31-year-old founded the right-wing political organization Turning Point USA, which was dedicated to promoting conservatism among young people.
He was a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and helped to promote him among younger voters.
“We’ve got to make sure that we never, ever accept what happened yesterday or the time before that,” Beshear said of Wednesday’s killing.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the gunman had not been apprehended.
The fatal shooting follows increasing acts of political violence, from a 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi, husband of then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, to a 2024 assassination attempt against Trump himself while on the campaign trail.
Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed at their home in June, but their deaths did not prompt White House orders to lower flags to half-staff.
This year, Beshear has also ordered flags to half-staff in honor of Overdose Awareness Day, the victims of the Aug. 27 school shooting in Minneapolis, the late Pope Francis and former President Jimmy Carter, according to previous announcements from his office. He’s also done the same for fallen military service members and first responders.
“If we are going to let politics invade something so wrong as murder, we have a lot more work to do,” Beshear told the Herald-Leader at a press conference Thursday.
Trump plans to further honor Kirk with a posthumous Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Staff reporter Austin Horn contributed to this report.
