Vigils were held across the country following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event in Utah on Wednesday.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. He was transported to a hospital in critical condition before he was later pronounced dead.
Politicians, faith leaders, fellow conservative activists and others mourned Kirk’s death, with some announcing vigils to stand against political violence in the wake of his murder.
Turning Point USA campus chapters at colleges across the country organized vigils on Wednesday night for the organization’s founder.
‘In response to the reprehensible and senseless murder of Charlie Kirk, we are gathering tonight at Westlake Park in Seattle at 7:30PM for a time of prayer, worship, and solitary as we take a stand against the senseless political and religious violence in America,’ Russell Johnson, lead pastor at The Pursuit in Washington state, wrote on X announcing his church’s vigil.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-MT, said there would be a prayer vigil at a church on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night.
‘I invite Montanans to join us in prayer and spirit praying for Charlie, his family and our divided nation. We must heal,’ he wrote on X.
In Arizona, the group Catholics for Catholics said a rosary vigil would be held Wednesday night.
‘Charlie Kirk’s local Catholic community gathers to pray the Rosary for the Eternal Rest of his soul,’ the group wrote on Instagram.
‘Charlie was our friend,’ the post added. ‘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.’
The New York Yankees held a moment of silence ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers to honor Kirk.
‘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 on X.
Kevin Smith, founder of the conservative media company The Loud Majority, also announced a vigil scheduled for Saturday in New York.
President Donald Trump, officials in his administration, other U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle, foreign leaders and sports figures were among those who came out in mourning Kirk and condemning acts of political violence.
‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said on X that the attack on Kirk was ‘disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,’ adding: ‘In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.’
‘Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X. ‘A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization.’
‘Condolences to his family and the young people of this country,’ Bruce Pearl, Auburn University’s men’s basketball coach, said on X. ‘Many in our Auburn student body are horrified tonight, you young patriots who love our country like Charlie. For now let’s morn, keep the violent rhetoric down and then live our best lives, committed to making this country better.’
Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Lane Frantzve, and two children.