Country music star Gavin Adcock led a crowd to chant the name of conservative influencer and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at one of his concerts this week, following Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday at an event in Utah.
In videos posted online, a shirtless Adcock can be seen holding an American flag and shouting “Charlie Kirk! Charlie Kirk!” a couple of times before the crowd responds with the same chant.
After several moments, the “Last One to Know” singer tells the sold-out, cheering venue: “Jesus loves every single one of you in this place tonight. Charlie Kirk’s with Jesus. I want y’all to say some thoughts and prayers tonight before you go to sleep – when you lay down by yourself or with your loved one, say some prayers for someone who needs it.”
WATCH:
Kirk, 31, was gunned down during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Police and the FBI have a suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, in custody. They believe he used a Mauser bolt-action 30-06 caliber rifle to assassinate the influential conservative figure who was a personal friend of President Donald Trump.
Republicans have long been critical of Democratic rhetoric as being responsible for radicalizing Americans into committing violence against conservative figures, including a couple of assassination attempts against Trump last year.
That includes Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat who defended comparing Trump, Kirk, and their supporters to Adolf Hitler during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” on Friday, just two days after Kirk’s murder.
On the program, Crockett not only stood by the Hitler comparison but also tried to blame Trump himself for political violence despite the fact that Democrats are not being murdered by radicalized right-wing MAGA supporters.
“We’ve got to talk about, like, what it means when you’re runnin’ for president or you’re runnin’ for one of these higher offices, and you go out there and you talk about beating people up,” she said.
“You go out there and you say things like ‘I can shoot somebody in the middle of the street in New York and I could still win.’”
“We gotta talk about – like, that is next level. Me disagreeing with you, me calling you a wannabe Hitler, all those thing are, like, not necessarily saying, ‘Go out and hurt somebody,’ but when you’re literally telling people at rallies, ‘Yeah, beat him up,’ and that kind of stuff, like, you are promoting like a culture of violence, so we need to talk about like what it looks like when you don’t promote a culture of violence,” she said.
Meanwhile, Robinson has “lawyered up” and is no longer talking with investigators, according to a new report.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Robinson had initially been speaking with law enforcement but has since gone silent, Newsmax reported.
It was not made clear what Robinson said before he stopped talking. He is currently being held without bail at the Utah County Jail.
He is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice, according to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by NBC News.
Court records show Robinson has no prior misdemeanor or felony convictions, but that he has long been “far left” in his political beliefs, according to his previous acquaintances.