Tens of thousands of mourners, many in red MAGA hats, gathered around Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium in Sunday’s pre-dawn hours to honor slain conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk. Washington emptied much of the executive branch for the event, with President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller all expected to appear at the memorial.
The event rates the top-level security usually reserved for events like the Super Bowl, with Homeland Security, FBI, local police and even TSA manning the magnetometers, a security level ramped up after police arrested a man with a gun and knife inside the arena the day before the event.
“It’s a watershed moment in American history. We haven’t had something happen like this since the assassination of John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King. So I knew it was going to be a moment in history,” says Richard Guerra, whose wife, Haeven Guerra, is a senior field representative for the Kirk-founded political group Turning Point USA. “He wasn’t a politician. He wasn’t a president. This was a normal guy who spoke the truth and now it’s started a revival.”
Mourners who spoke with Vanity Fair characterized Kirk a champion of free speech, citing his “Prove Me Wrong” sessions in which he’d debate college students as a free exchange of information. Critics note, however, that while Kirk was an aggressive and skilled debater, he often interrupted, demeaned and bullied his challengers, citing sometimes questionable statistics that were impossible to challenge in real time.
Kirk is succeeded as head of Turning Point USA by his wife, Erika Kirk, who has vowed that Kirk’s legacy will live on. “The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry,” she said in a public address three days after her husband’s slaying. “No one will ever forget my husband’s name, and I will make sure of it. It will become stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever.”
Bradley Adams, 26, who arrived at the stadium 4 a.m., says Kirk’s movement will swell under his wife.
“I think it becomes even more powerful and bigger than ever before,” he said of the movement Kirk started. “I was here at the Super Bowl when Arizona hosted it. I’m a local. I haven’t seen a crowd like this in my life. I think millions and millions of young people like myself are just flocking to the nearest TP USA and Turning Point Action conferences. It’s exploding.”
A small group of Kirk critics gathered outside the stadium, many with placards bearing some of the pundit’s more controversial quotes. But according to one attendee, opposition is welcome. “I love the protesters. That’s what America’s about. I was there on January 6th,” said Kirk mourner and Vietnam veteran “New York Myke” Shelby, referring to the pro-Trump protests of Jan. 6, 2021. “I went there because I didn’t think Joe Biden could get 81 million votes. I still don’t believe it. … That’s what Charlie Kirk was about.”
Others said that those who spoke against Kirk—such as suspended talk show host Jimmy Kimmel—deserved to be muffled. “Just a few years ago they were banning Trump on Twitter and Facebook and those kinds of things,” said Tasha Pantau, who with her daughter, Sheridan wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat. “So they didn’t mind when it happened to Trump.”
As the stadium began to fill, lines of demarcation grew more visible. Black-suited men, many in sunglasses, prowled the perimeter, as casually dressed mourners—most clad in the red, white, and blue attire requested by organizers—filled the stands. On the floor of the stadium were more prominent members of the movement, most dressed in more traditional funeral garb.
By 11 a.m. local time, nearly all the seats in State Farm Stadium were full, the air a combination tent revival and political rally. Attendees holding up signs bearing Bible verses stood shoulder-to-shoulder, many engaged in loud and enthusiastic prayer that contributed to the deafening noise. Friends and strangers embraced, many in tears. Others expressed joy and hope for a future shaped by Kirk beliefs.
“Looking forward Turning Point is going to grow exponentially, which effects directly the youth of this country,” said Allan Weistock, whose biker vest reads “Born to Ride for 45, Donald J. Trump.” “So I think that’s a great thing. As much as I miss Charlie, his movement’s only going to grow.”
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