About

Counting or Not Counting Gang Violence, also known as Charlie Kirk's Last Words, are the final recorded words spoken by conservative political activist Charlie Kirk before he was shot and killed at Utah Valley University during a speaking event in September 2025. Kirk was asking for an elaboration on the question, "Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?" Kirk's last words became the subject of discussions online following the assassination. In November 2025, a recording of Kirk's final words, followed by the gunshot that killed him, became the subject of lip dub memes on TikTok, including memes that show TikTokers lip syncing the final words, then pretending to dodge or stop the bullet, among other skits that use it in a 2026 trend involving hair and prom transitions.

Origin

On September 10th, 2025, conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University.

During the event, Kirk was asked how many transgender shooters there have been in the last 10 years by student and event attendee Hunter Kozak. Kirk responded, "Too many," and the attendee answered, "It's five." The attendee then asked, "How many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?" Kirk responded, "Counting or not counting gang violence?" looking to elaborate on the question. Kirk was then shot in the neck by a gunman. These were his last known recorded words.

Several versions of the clip that edit out the shot have been uploaded to YouTube.^[1]

Kirk's last recorded words have inspired discussions and posts online since the day he was assassinated.

For example, that same day, TikToker^[2] @heyitstwig25 posted a video where she recounts his last words, garnering over 1.5 million views in two months.

Spread

In November 2025, TikToker^[3] @oxnmyknees posted a video set to Charlie Kirk's last recorded words, which has since been deleted, leaving only the original sound and its videos. The audio is often used to comedically reenact Kirk's death and make memes using the audio.

For example, on November 9th, 2025, TikToker^[4] @..jiggly posted a video recreating the assassination using Littlest Pet Shop toys, garnering over 3.4 million views in two weeks.

That same day, X^[5] user @biskitisgood123 posted a Kirkified meme along with the last words as a caption, gaining over 92,000 likes in two weeks.

On November 16th, 2025, TikToker^[6] @reigensamonguskeychain posted a recreation of the assassination using a variety of toys, garnering over 2.4 million views in five days.

On November 18th, X^[7] user @Tyre_94 posted, "Idk if enough time has passed but do you know how insane it is for your last words to be 'Counting or not counting gang violence?'" garnering over 10,000 likes in three days.

On November 20th, 2025, TikToker^[8] @therealrhettmclaughlin posted a video, captioned, "How I would've reacted if I was Charlie Kirk," in which she lip dubs to the final words, then acts like she dodges a bullet when the gunfire sound is heard, followed by dancing, garnering over 2.6 million views in a day.

Charlie Kirk Prom Dress / Transition Trend

In November 2025, TikTokers also began the trend of posting outfit, hair and other transition videos set to the audio of Charlie Kirk's assassination. In the videos, the sound of the gunshot is used as the marker for the transition from one look to another. One early example was posted by TikToker^[9] @eemasup on November 28th, 2026, garnering around 7,500 views in six months.

The trend continued to spread in 2026. On January 20th, 2026, TIkToker^[10] @uhhlice posted a hair transition video to the audio that gained over 899,000 views in four months.

In April 2026, the trend, particularly versions where girls transition into their prom dresses to the sound, started to catch the attention of conservative social media users and those more sympathetic to Kirk's death, inspiring controversy.

For example, on April 29th, 2026, X^[11] user @BrianAtlas, host of the Whatever Podcast, posted one of the videos, writing, "Women post video using Charlie Kirk assassination sounds for outfit transition… this is gross. This is the 'empathy' side btw," gaining over 15,000 likes, 2,500 reposts and 14 million views in a week.

On May 1st, TikToker^[12] @patrioticpeach posted a video reacting to several examples of the trend and criticizing it, garnering over 30,000 views in five days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References