Posted: September 11, 2025

Summary

Witness to the shooting discusses his experienece and advocates dialogue not violence.

Description

Witness Skyler Baird has described the moment Donald Trump ally Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a university event in Utah.

“I knew instantly Charlie wasn’t going to survive,” said Baird, who was among the 3,000 people at the event.

Transcription

I was maybe 10 or 15 feet away when it happened. I was doing okay, managing. And then I was putting my 5-year-old to bed, and she had me read her a story about love. I just couldn’t finish the story.

I was thinking about Charlie’s little girls, his wife. He was such a powerful human being. At 31 years old, the things that he accomplished…it’s like we got some candles here, and I couldn’t hold a candle to that at this moment. I was closer than any of the students, closer than maybe one security guard between him and me.

And I heard the pop, and I knew immediately it was a gunshot. As soon as I thought that, I saw Charlie’s neck and the blood. And I just knew instantly there was no chance that he was going to survive.

I saw a Facebook post from someone that they were at the event, too. And a man from England commented that he was glad that this would shut him up, that now he can’t talk anymore. That kind of hatred, that kind of vile attitude can’t exist in society.

I believe it was the governor earlier today who said that if any part of you felt happy hearing this news, you need to check yourself. You need to see what kind of angels could come into your life and change your heart because there’s a real cancer in our society, and it’s not just in America, it’s around the globe. I think it’s infused by social media, but people carrying deep-rooted hatred, that needs to stop. We can have differing opinions, we can have discussions.

Get off the rooftop. Stop. Hold your rifle down there and grab a microphone. Talk to somebody. It’s only when we get heart-to-heart and really see who people are that we’re going to solve this and cure the world of the cancer that’s here.