This weekend saw not riots and people burning down cities, but rather vigils celebrating conservative activist Charlie Kirk in the way he would have wanted – discussion not violence. From Washington, DC, to across the pond and beyond, people gathered to mourn and pay their respects to someone who has been a positive icon for so many.
“Kirk’s youth and ardency made him, in conservative eyes at least, something of a latter-day Joan d’Arc, the televised spectacle of his slaying evoked the harrowing assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the setting of the university campus — where the pursuit of knowledge is supposed to be sacrosanct — made the attack that much more appalling,” Politico wrote.
Before the event, an announcement went out that described the gathering as “a unifying event focused on prayer, mourning, and celebrating the life, legacy, and memory of Charlie Kirk.”
“Some of the most powerful people on planet Earth are in this room tonight, all because Charlie had an indelible impact on their lives, the same way that he had on your lives,” Arizona state Senator Jake Hoffman, said at the beginning of the vigil.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told the audience it had been “a very, very difficult week in America,” adding that it felt “as if a dark shadow was cast over our country.” He urged supporters to honor Kirk, saying:
“Charlie Kirk recruited and trained and educated a generation of happy warriors, and we’d do well to be reminded that the best way to honor his memory and honor his unmatched legacy is to live as Charlie did.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Kirk’s focus on marriage, children, and faith, saying it would “take all of us across the country to take up Charlie’s torch.” Her remarks drew long applause from a hall filled with supporters wearing pins and shirts that said “freedom.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recalled first meeting Kirk during a podcast several years ago and spoke of their friendship in simple terms. “By the end of the podcast, we were soulmates, spiritual brothers, and we were friends,” he said, before offering a brief reflection on grief and hope.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard spoke about making the most of limited time and described Kirk’s impact as “profound,” crediting his public faith and advocacy as the reasons people across the world were holding candles for him. The night closed with prayers for Kirk’s wife and children and a call to reject violence in politics.
The DC event anchored a weekend of tributes that stretched across the United States and beyond. In Phoenix, Arizona, people gathered outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters, leaving flowers, flags, and handwritten notes. Local TV described “hundreds” of mourners at the site across multiple days.
(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
In Orem, Utah – the city where Kirk was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University – residents held multiple vigils in parks and on campus grounds. Candles and phone lights framed a series of short prayers, and the city’s mayor, David Young, urged the crowd not to let hate take root. “Darkness never has the last word,” he said, as families brought flowers to a growing memorial.
Organizers in Houston, Texas, announced a candlelight prayer vigil downtown at Discovery Green on Sunday night. They described the gathering as a time to celebrate Kirk’s life and “promote peace” after a week that left supporters shaken. On college campuses, student chapters also planned tributes; in Austin, more than 100 people met on the West Mall to pray and share stories. In Tempe, Arizona State University students prepared a Monday evening vigil.
Tributes appeared at sports venues as well. Before NFL games on Sunday, teams observed moments of silence, and images of Kirk and his family played on stadium screens at multiple locations, including MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
International gatherings showed the reach of Kirk’s following. In Brisbane, Australia, Turning Point organizers lit candles and led prayers; local outlets described “hundreds” of attendees at the University of Queensland service, while a separate Sydney vigil drew up to 1,000 people. In London, roughly 1,000 people gathered near Downing Street in steady rain for a candlelight vigil, and another crowd in Whitehall was described as having “hundreds” participating. At the US embassy in Rome, a sign of Kirk proclaims him as a “martyr for freedom.” Photographs from the vigils echoed images seen in Utah and Arizona – candles cupped against the wind, children held close, and posters with simple messages of love and loss.
Turning Point USA said a large public memorial will take place next weekend at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and the Kennedy Center speakers asked those in the hall to keep the family in prayer until then. Organizers encouraged people to bring friends and neighbors and to keep the focus on faith, unity, and a rejection of hatred.
The coming days will bring more formal services and the first court hearings for the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson, now in custody, but Sunday’s gatherings were about something simpler: people making time to remember, to grieve, and to hope that public life can be fierce without being cruel.