Charlie Kirk may be gone, killed by an assassin’s bullet, but he will live on through his supporters.
What’s more, advocates of the conservative activist who focused his message on younger people should continue his legacy of speaking out and standing firm in their values.
Those were two of the messages at a vigil for Kirk, held Wednesday evening at Weber State University in Ogden. The vigil was organized by the college’s Turning Point USA chapter, the group Kirk co-founded, and several other organizations.
The gathering, which drew around 250 people, is one of many that have been held around the state and country in the wake of Kirk’s killing last week while he addressed a crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem.
“Some of you are grieving, some of you are angry and some of you are afraid,” said Utah Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, one of several speakers Wednesday. “But let me tell you this: If Charlie could speak to us right right now, I believe he would say the very same things that he spent his life saying. Don’t be afraid. Don’t back down. Speak louder, stand stronger and fight harder. Because that assassin may have taken Charlie’s life, but he will not take his legacy.”
Utah Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, referenced what she described as Kirk’s willingness to hear out and civilly debate other viewpoints. While Kirk is lauded by many, particularly conservatives, he also made controversial comments at times that have drawn fire from critics.
Open debate is “how we learn, it’s how we grow. It’s what keeps us strong,” Koford said. “But Charlie also said recently, ‘When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence,’ because you start to think the other side is so evil that they lose their humanity. We can’t lose our humanity. Tonight, as we grieve Charlie’s loss, let’s hold tight to his example. ... Let’s stand for our freedoms and let’s lift each other up. He did that so well. He showed everyone behind him a way forward.”
Rep. Jake Sawyer, R-Ogden, offered a similar message, stressing the importance of speaking out and debating.
“He knew that truth grows stronger when it’s tested, and that hope comes alive when people step forward,” Sawyer said. “And that’s where you come in, right here on this campus — in your classrooms and in your friendships, you have the chance to act. You have the chance to build something bigger than your own life, a future where hard conversations are not silenced but welcomed, a future where courage and hope overcome fear and despair.”
While the tone was generally uplifting, there were also moments of sharpness.
Opposition to the conservative movement isn’t new, Auxier said, “but never in our lifetimes has it been so loud, so hateful, so violent and so utterly evil.”
Jared Caldwell, head of the Weber State chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative political group, offered an angry message, pointing an accusatory finger at the political left, chiefly those “celebrating” Kirk’s killing. The political right needs to unify, he said, but he’s more leery of uniting with the political left.
“They are our adversaries. I don’t seek unity with them. I seek to humiliate, demoralize and crush them politically along with the ideologies they support,” he said. “And by the way, if anyone celebrates Charlie’s murder, those people need to face serious social consequences — i.e., lose their jobs, be expelled from classes or campuses, lose scholarships, grants, etc.”
Mostly, though, the tone of Wednesday’s vigil, while sad, was hopeful and forward-looking.
“Let us feel the weight of this loss but refuse to be crushed by it,” said Auxier. Kirk’s death should serve as “a passing of the torch, a torch of liberty now placed in the hands of a new generation, young men and women ready to carry it forward into the unknown, into the fight and into the darkness.”
Tyler Robinson, 22, has been arrested in the killing of Kirk and faces a count of aggravated murder, among other charges. He allegedly targeted Kirk due to his beliefs and planned out the attack.