Thousands were gathering in Arizona for a public memorial to honor Charlie Kirk, the rightwing youth organizer who was fatally shot during an event at a Utah college.
Donald Trump, his vice-president, JD Vance, and Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, were among a long list of prominent officials and figures expected to pay tribute to the slain activist, a reflection of his deep imprint on the president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement.
The memorial service was being held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a 63,000-seat home of the Arizona Cardinals football team and the venue where Taylor Swift launched her Eras tour.
Thousands of people wearing red, white and blue poured into the stadium.
Lines snaked several blocks before sunrise Sunday, when temperatures were expected to near 100F (37.8C) by the afternoon. Inside the stadium, seats began to fill hours before the official program was due to begin. Supporters were already in tears as they listened to a Christian rock group that performed on stage in advance of the official program.
Jeffrey Barke, a physician with a large online following, went to the stadium with a group of friends from Orange county, California, on what he called a “pilgrimage of sorts” to honor Kirk’s life and legacy. He pledged to use own platform to aid in spreading “Charlie’s message”.
Christina Sawick, wearing a “Trump was right about everything” hat, said she had been watching and listening to Kirk since 2016. On Sunday, she left her home in Mesa at 3am to attend his memorial service.
She said she appreciated Kirk’s willingness to debate anyone regardless of their politics or background. “He didn’t sugarcoat anything,” she said. “He just wanted to be heard and he wanted everybody to be heard.”
Sawick said she hoped more Americans would accept – even if they did not support – the president and his message. “I want people to get behind our president,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with making America great again.”
A massive security presence, led by the US Secret Service, was in place, with the event expected to receive security on par with the Super Bowl. A man armed with a gun and a knife, with inactive law enforcement credentials and amid claims he was providing private security, was detained on Saturday at the venue.
A spokesperson for Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization said the man was doing “advance security for a known guest” but it was not properly coordinated with the Secret Service or Turning Point. The spokesperson also said it was not believed the man was “attempting anything nefarious”.
Americans are grappling with the killing and complicated legacy of the 31-year-old conservative “youth whisperer”, Trump ally and podcasting provocateur, who was shot and killed on 10 September in what prosecutors have labeled political violence – and which has deepened fears about the trajectory of a profoundly divided nation.
Kirk was struck by a single bullet as he spoke before a crowd of 3,000 mostly college students at Utah Valley University, the first stop on his national “American Comeback” campus tour. Utah prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson, 22, with capital murder in Kirk’s killing and said they will seek the death penalty.
In the wake of Kirk’s death, Trump and his advisers have sought to cast blame on Democrats, even though elected leaders and party officials have uniformly condemned the killing. Officials have said they believe the suspect acted alone.
Prosecutors have said they suspect Robinson killed Kirk because he personally had become sick of what he perceived to be Kirk’s “hatred”. But, citing three sources familiar with the investigation into Kirk’s killing, NBC reported Saturday that federal authorities have not found any link between Robinson and leftwing groups, on which the Trump administration has threatened to crack down after the deadly shooting.
Fueled by an outpouring of grief and rage on the right, conservatives are demanding punishment for those who have mocked or disparaged Kirk – a campaign of retribution critics say mirrors the very cancel culture he railed against. Since his death, teachers, students, journalists and the late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel have been fired, suspended or disciplined over comments related to Kirk or his death, in a clampdown that free-speech advocates, democracy scholars and others say amounts to government censorship.
The funeral’s speaker program underscores Kirk’s personal relationship with Trump, the president’s family and other prominent Republicans. Vance traveled to Utah after Kirk’s death to fly his casket to Phoenix aboard Air Force Two. After the 2024 presidential election, Kirk was a frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago as Trump put together his cabinet and had a prime seat for his second inauguration in January.
Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012, at the age of 18, to organize young conservatives. Over the course of 13 years, he transformed it into a rightwing juggernaut with a deep reach into high schools, colleges and social media feeds.
On Thursday, the board announced that Erika Kirk was unanimously elected to succeed her husband as chief executive and chairperson of Turning Point’s board of directors.
Source link
-
-
-
-
-
