WILMINGTON — The number one read story at Port City Daily in 2025 came in September, following the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking on a Utah college campus.
In response to his death, student chapters of the organization — which advocate for conservative politics — began holding vigils nationwide. This included UNCW, prompting around 1,500 students to show up in support on Monday, Sept. 15. Someone painted Kirk’s image on the school’s spirit rock and when a different group tried to paint over it, a confrontation ensued that also gained national media attention.
Thereafter, an X post from Right Angle News Network detailed the spirit rock debacle, with a response from BrendanJones04 indicating:
“Our nc group militia will be there Friday at uncw. There are 13-15 students, 3 professors and 3 admin that have posted hateful rhetoric. We have their schedules and locations. We will take care of the problem.”
The school had already received a threat on campus, leading to the evacuation of both Randall Library and Discovery Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 17, just after midnight.
The culmination of events sparked response from UNCW Chancellor Answani Volety:
“After the memorial, I had confidence that our university would engage in civil, vigorous discourse about recent events’ impact on our campus, community and nation. Unfortunately, I have been profoundly disappointed in how we’ve allowed this tragedy to tear at the bonds that make us who we are. The conflicts on our campus in recent days don’t reflect who we’re called to be. We are better than this.”
Volety noted student safety was of paramount concern, adding the university was working closely with all law enforcement and taking all threats, online or otherwise, made to UNCW seriously.
By Thursday evening, events escalated further after an anonymous unconfirmed report came in that a gunman was on campus. Local, state and federal law enforcement swarmed the scene and instituted a shelter-in-place; the campus was on lockdown for three hours while police did a sweep. In the end, they did not find the threat viable.
Classes were canceled on campus the following Friday. Read the coverage in two published pieces from Port City Daily below.
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