It’s Tuesday, September 8. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Mike Doran asks, what is Trump thinking about Iran? Arthur Brooks tells students how to be happy at college. Why did a woman get convicted for letting her son go on a walk? And more.
But first: Inside the day Charlie Kirk was killed.
A year ago this week, on September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was speaking onstage at Utah Valley University when a crack splintered the air. A 31-year-old father of two was shot dead in front of millions.
Most of us remember where we were that day, but few know the behind-the-scenes story of what happened next. Spencer Cox does. The Utah governor was at the scene just hours after the shooting, and at the center of the effort to find the man responsible. He emerged as a powerful voice after the tragedy, calling on Americans to mend a politics that sometimes feels broken.
In an interview with our Peter Savodnik days after the shooting, Cox spoke about “which direction he thought Americans, and America, would choose” in the aftermath of the murder. Today, we know something about the answer: Kirk’s death was not the wake-up call some hoped it would be. Instead, the killing unleashed deranged conspiracy theories, fueled radicalization, and deepened the rage that threatens to define our politics.
That’s why, as we approach the anniversary of the murder, it’s worth returning to what actually happened that day, and what Cox saw firsthand. In today’s lead story—an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt—Cox pulls back the curtain on those 48 hours. It’s a gripping account of a moment that changed the country—and a reminder of just how far we still have to go to find our way back.
—The Editors
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