A man posing as a police officer and carrying a gun entered the football stadium where Charlie Kirk’s memorial service is set to be held on Sunday, the police said, heightening security concerns ahead of the event, which is expected to draw more than 100,000 people.
The man was arrested on Friday afternoon after U.S. Secret Service agents decided he was suspicious and approached him inside the stadium in Glendale, Ariz., officials said. When they did, the man said, falsely, that he was a law enforcement member and acknowledged that he had a weapon, according to Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Mr. Graves said the police had charged the man, Joshua Runkles, 42, with impersonating a law enforcement officer and carrying a weapon into a prohibited space. Mr. Runkles was booked into jail but has since been released on bond, Mr. Graves said. Court records were not available online.
Mr. Graves said the police were trying to determine why the man entered the stadium two days before the memorial was set to be held on Sunday morning. Mr. Runkles lives or recently lived in North Carolina, records show. A man who answered a call to a phone number connected to him claimed that he was not the same man and then did not respond to further calls.
Anthony Guglielmi, the head of communications for the Secret Service, said that the man had both knives and guns on him when he was arrested.
Local law enforcement first encountered Mr. Runkles outside the stadium, Mr. Guglielmi said, and it was only after he entered the venue and was approached by Secret Service officers that he was detained. Mr. Guglielmi added that, at the time, security officials had still been working to establish a “hardened perimeter.”
The arrest heightened security concerns for the memorial for Mr. Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative firebrand who was assassinated in Utah last week.
State Farm Stadium, where the memorial is being held and where the man was arrested, is the home of the N.F.L.’s Arizona Cardinals and can seat up to 73,000 people, but officials said they believe many more than that may try to attend. The event is not ticketed and people are allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis. President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several cabinet members are scheduled to speak.
On Saturday afternoon, the streets and parking lot around the stadium were already barricaded by police officers. The City of Glendale has blocked roads with large blue garbage dumpsters.
A few of Mr. Kirk’s supporters strolled along the fenced-off perimeter of the stadium, discussing how early they would have to wake up on Sunday to make it inside. Darrell Black, 75, said he and his wife drove two days from Houston and had scheduled an Uber ride for 2 a.m. on Sunday to take them as close to the venue as they can get.
“We are trying everything we can to be in there,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security has designated the memorial a top-level security event, similar to the Super Bowl or the New York Marathon.
Jose Miguel Santiago, a spokesman for the police department in Glendale, said setting up security measures was an “all hands on deck” operation that was similar to how agencies prepared for the Super Bowl that was held at the stadium in 2023.
But a major difference between that event and this one is that the police had years to prepare for the Super Bowl and just about a week to form a plan for Mr. Kirk’s service. Still, Mr. Santiago was confident that officials with his department — as well as the many federal and local agencies they are collaborating with — would be ready.
There will be hundreds of police officers circling the stadium, Mr. Santiago said, in addition to drones flying through the air and metal detectors. He said the police department has access to more than 300 security cameras in locations around the stadium.
“Every kind of security measure you can possibly think of will be in place,” he said.
Mr. Santiago said that Turning Point USA, the group that Mr. Kirk founded, had reported that more than 200,000 people have already registered for the event, indicating that they plan to attend. A designated overflow venue nearby — the Desert Diamond Arena — holds about 19,000 people.
The football stadium will open the stadium to attendees beginning at 8 a.m. local time, three hours before the event is scheduled to start.
Turning Point has told people to expect “T.S.A.-level screening,” referring to the airport security agency, and has warned people of long wait times. The group has also said that no bags will be allowed into the stadium, even if they are clear.
Kieran Corcoran contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.
Chris Hippensteel is a reporter covering breaking news and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent for The Times who focuses on the politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York.
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