OREM, Utah — Hundreds of Charlie Kirk supporters packed an area at Utah Valley College on Thursday night time to honor the conservative activist one 12 months after he was assassinated on the campus.
College students and mates of the Turning Level USA co-founder, who was simply 31 years previous when he was gunned down throughout certainly one of his in style open mic occasions, vowed to “proceed what he began” in a touching ceremony.
“At this time, one 12 months later, at Utah Valley College. We keep in mind Charlie Kirk. We mourn Charlie Kirk, and we honor Charlie Kirk,” Sage Lloyd, the President of UVU’s TPUSA chapter, advised the large crowd.
“Maybe the best technique to honor him shouldn’t be merely to recollect what he did, however proceed what he began,” Lloyd mentioned.
Lloyd recalled that TPUSA members on the public college — the place Kirk was shot within the neck whereas calmly debating school college students in a chilling, caught-on-video slaying on Sept. 10, 2025 — have been motivated to proceed his legacy regardless of their immense grief.
“Our chapter has grieved, we now have struggled, and we now have carried issues that few folks outdoors of our personal expertise will ever fully perceive, however by means of the entire hardship, we’re nonetheless right here.”
“The identical college students who witnessed a political assassination are keen to face up, converse out, and preserve transferring ahead all due to the impression one man, Charlie Kirk, had on their lives.”
The huge occasion, which kicked off at 8:30 EST, additionally featured speeches by radio host Glenn Beck, Christian creator Frank Turek, and Turning Level USA’s Chief Subject Officer Andrew Syphe,
The memorial drew backlash from UVU’s College students for a Democratic Society membership, which deliberate to protest the occasion — which shut down campus and canceled courses on Thursday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“We, college students of UVU, strongly condemn the choice handy over our campus to TPUSA on September 10. As we strategy the anniversary of this tragic occasion, it ought to be made clear that many people will probably be additional negatively affected by permitting TPUSA to occupy our campus on that day,” college students mentioned within the open letter addressed to the campus administration.
Final 12 months’s horrifying taking pictures despatched hundreds of spectators on the public Utah college fleeing for his or her lives and spurred a 33-hour manhunt culminating within the arrest of alleged gunman Tyler Robinson.
Robinson, 23, allegedly used his grandfather’s searching rifle to gun down the married father of two over his “political expression” in opposition to homosexual marriage, trans rights, and “the LGBTQ+ agenda,” prosecutors have mentioned.
Robinson will stand trial for first-degree homicide with political focusing on and different aggravating components for final 12 months’s taking pictures, a cost that might give Robinson the demise penalty if convicted.
The Utah Valley College service was certainly one of a number of rallies and vigils honoring the conservative icon worldwide — with Thursday’s occasions stretching from New York Metropolis, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, and Sydney, Australia.
Nationwide Republicans additionally deliberate to honor Kirk with a particular tribute throughout their huge midterm conference in Dallas Thursday night time.
This can be a breaking story. Please verify again for updates.
