Student Debating Charlie Kirk Right Before Shooting Speaks Out

The Utah Valley University student who was debating Charlie Kirk moments before he was fatally shot has spoken out, condemning those celebrating the assassination as “sick f*cking psychos.”

Hunter Kozak, a mathematics student with a YouTube channel, had challenged Kirk on the issue of transgender mass shooters during the campus event. As Kirk responded, a single gunshot struck him in the neck.

In a video posted to X late Thursday, Kozak reflected on the incident and the online reactions that followed. “First off, you sick f*cking psychos that think this is the answer, I don’t know what else to say. It’s f*cking not. It’s awful and a father doesn’t have his kids anymore,” Kozak began.

“Charlie had two kids and a wife. And, like, not to make this about me, but I have two kids and a wife and if my 1-year-old boy, like his 1-year-old will grow up without memories of his dad, it’s a tragedy and it’s hard to grapple with,” he continued. “And I’m part of a community that’s struggling to grapple with it right now.”

Referencing the debate he was having with Kirk right before the assassination, Kozak said “the point” he “was trying to make is how peaceful the left was, right before he got shot.” He continued, “That only makes sense if we stay peaceful.”

PLAY:

the last person to talk to Charlie Kirk speaks out, Hunter Kozak, he was a student at the Utah Valley University debating him

Final exchange:

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” Hunter

“Too many,” Kirk

“Five… Do you… https://t.co/TBeXmLHON5 pic.twitter.com/EODYNx7Dq8

— SOUND | Victor Baez (@itsavibe) September 12, 2025

“As much as I disagree with Charlie Kirk, I’m on the record for how much I disagree with Charlie Kirk, but like, man, dude, he is still a human being. Have we forgotten that? Are we crazy? Like, I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was conversation,” he said.

He cautioned that anyone in his audience “salivating” over the killing was not welcome in the community he was “trying to build.”