Charlie Kirk Assassination Updates: Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of US President Donald Trump, was shot dead at a Utah college event. President Trump confirmed the news of death of “great, and even legendary” Kirk. In his address, Trump assured action against those perpetrating political violence.

“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country,” President Trump said.

A person, who was taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in Kirk’s assassination, has been released, the FBI director Kash Patel said.

The assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk marks a watershed moment in a surge of U.S. political violence, one that some experts fear will inflame an already-fractured country and inspire more unrest.

“This event is horrifying, alarming, but not necessarily surprising,” said Mike Jensen, a researcher at the University of Maryland, which has tracked such violence in a terrorism database since 1970, in an interview with news agency Reuters.

In the first six months of the year, the US experienced about 150 politically-motivated attacks — nearly twice as many as over the same period last year, said Jensen. “I think we are in a very, very dangerous spot right now that could quite easily escalate into more widespread civil unrest if we don’t get a hold of it,” Jensen said. “This could absolutely serve as a kind of flashpoint that inspires more of it.”

The Utah college where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday is the state’s largest public university after years of rapid enrollment growth, but is lesser known than other colleges in the state.

Utah Valley University was founded under a different name in 1941 as a vocational school focused on providing war production training. It didn’t begin offering four-year degrees until the 1990s, a move that fueled a fivefold increase in enrollment over the next three decades. It now has nearly 47,000 students, according to the university website.

Nearly nine out of 10 students at the school in Orem are from Utah, and 18% of students are 25 years old or older. Business and psychology are among the most popular majors.

Utah Valley University’s campus is right off a major highway about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City, where the state’s flagship school, the University of Utah, is located.