OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:03 PM – Thursday, September 11, 2025
Following the horrific assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) co-founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU), vigils have been held nationwide, with mourners leaving bouquets of flowers, heartfelt letters, and other tributes to honor the influential conservative speaker.
On Wednesday night, TPUSA chapters at colleges across the nation organized vigils in remembrance of Kirk, just hours after he was pronounced dead at a Utah hospital from a gunshot wound to the neck.
“I invite Montanans to join us in prayer and spirit praying for Charlie, his family and our divided nation. We must heal,” Representative Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) posted to X, announcing a Wednesday night prayer vigil at a church on Capitol Hill.
The group Catholics for Catholics also announced a rosary vigil for Wednesday night, citing their intention to “pray the Rosary for the Eternal Rest of his soul.”
“Charlie was our friend,” the group’s Instagram post stated. “His family are our neighbors. He attended our Church. We loved him and America loves him too. It’s time now for us to pray and ask for Our Lady to usher his soul into heaven.”
Additionally, a rally and vigil were held at Westlake Center on Wednesday evening, where Pastor Russel Johnson of “The Pursuit Northwest” church spoke of Kirk’s impact on the nation.
“His impact on our nation will be talked about in the history books for years to come. He had the ability to distill the issues in such a way that it made sense to the common man,” said the pastor, who knew Kirk personally.
He also condemned the day’s violence as a symptom of a deeper illness.
“We got a political problem, we got a spiritual sickness. It’s a rot to the core, and Charlie spoke about these things! This was the most significant political assassination in 50 years, and it was aimed at silencing Charlie’s voice,” Johnson said.
“The reality is that they may stop his voice, but they’re not gonna stop all our voices. We’re getting louder than we were before, and we’re not backing down.”
Kevin Smith, founder of the conservative media company The Loud Majority, announced a vigil scheduled for Saturday in New York.
In the sport’s world, the New York Yankees initiated a moment of silence as well before Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers — which they recounted in a post on X.
“Before tonight’s game we held a moment of silence in memoriam of Charlie Kirk. Kirk founded the youth activist group ‘Turning Point USA’ and had become a fixture on college campuses,” the team said.
In the Gem State, the Idaho Freedom Foundation also organized an event at Idaho’s Capitol, where flags were seen lowered at half-mast in Kirk’s honor on Wednesday evening in remembrance of “the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk, a fearless patriot and man of God who was violently taken from us too early.”
Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to the assassinated political activist, lighting candles, praying, singing hymns and observing a moment of silence.
However, according to reports, a group of left-wing protesters infiltrated one of the ongoing gatherings, and a street fight broke out over a man who rode a bike through the vigil, shouting “F**k Charlie Kirk!” Idaho News 6 captured video footage of the brawl that broke out moments before Boise Police arrested an individual at the scene.
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