X/@JamesOKeefeIII
An investigative journalist, James O’Keefe, has released a video showing his initial reaction to the shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk during a live teaching session. The footage shows O’Keefe taking a call from a reporter during his O’Keefe Academy course. The call interrupted the class and conveyed O’Keefe’s raw expression of shock and concern as he was told about something that had happened to his close friend.
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Video reveals the scene during the live training, where O’Keefe appeared distracted for a moment, but once the call was taken, everything turned solemn. The audio recordings captured only O’Keefe’s voice as he freely expressed his thoughts during the unfolding events: “What? He got shot? When did that happen? Like 20 minutes ago or something?” The tone of O’Keefe was changing from professional to concerned. Visible in the video were O’Keefe’s expressions of dismay when he came to know of Kirk being shot in the neck; he kept commenting, “That’s not good,” as he began to realize the grimness of the situation.
O’Keefe explained why he shared this private moment in the post accompanying the video. He said, “I am conflicted about sharing this, it is still hard to process, but felt it appropriate to share this moment as it was happening.” The footage also captured O’Keefe damning his training session once the news came through: “Charles is a close friend of mine. And I think we need to call it everyone,” before leading a prayer for Kirk to recover.
There has been a rift of opinion over this video shared by O’Keefe, with the ones supporting him lauding his genuineness and those opposing his intentions. One commenter appreciated this very raw emotion by stating, “Thank you for sharing how decent people react. God bless Charlie Kirk.” Another expressed sympathy to O’Keefe’s grief, saying, “I’m so sorry for the great loss of your friend and a great man. A huge loss for all of us.”
VIDEO of moment I found out Charlie Kirk was shot. We were filming because I was teaching an O’Keefe Academy course live.
I got a call from a reporter who first gave me the news about my dear friend.
I am conflicted about sharing this, it is still hard to process, but felt it… pic.twitter.com/BLEo2vTndA
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) September 13, 2025
On the other hand, some began accusing O’Keefe of exploiting the incident for his benefit. “Nothing like making Charlie‘s death about you,” one user told, plainly putting it. “Cool, in the most maga fashion possible, you made it about yourself. Classic,” said another, implying O’Keefe was seeking attention by airing his private grief. Some questioned the sincerity of the entire display, with one user stating, “Lmao, omg, this is so staged,” and another saying, “Sorry, 3 cameras to an online live course? Those reactions are very weird, something is off.”
Many would go on to share their experience of how they learned about the shooting, further building the collective mourning scenario. One says: “I broke away to see if he was ok, praying he’d make it through on my break…and finding out just a moment later here that he didn’t. It brought me down for the rest of the day.” Another user recounted: “I was driving and I heard over the radio had to pull over because I started shaking, then grabbed my phone saw the video and called my husband.”
This video ignited conversations about political violence and Christian faith amongst conservatives. One comment read, “I’d like to ask every Christian conservative to wear their cross and/or crucifix proudly. Let the world know that you love God,” while another one shared the starting point of their own spiritual journey: “People like Charlie Kirk, Andrew Wilson, Tucker Carlson, and a host of others really set me on the path towards Christianity again.”
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When you share this moment between the two, you immediately see how the human impacts hit people within the conservative media world because of political violence. The mixed reactions to this video actually trace out a larger split as to whether public figures bare their souls publicly versus maintaining the public persona that they cherish. This could be a documented moment of pure shocked concern in an increasingly violent political landscape.