Tens of thousands gathered at an Arizona football stadium to honour the life and legacy of slain conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated almost two weeks ago on a Utah university campus.
Among the attendees are some of the Republican Party’s top leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance — both of whom will deliver speeches — leading members of their administration and several prominent members of the MAGA movement.
“We’re going to celebrate the life of a great man today,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Sunday, according to the
. “It will be a tough day.”
Early speakers at “Building a Legacy: Remembering Charlie Kirk” — his friends, acquaintances and his colleagues — highlighted his faith, his belief that young people should get married and have families to keep passing on their shared values and beliefs.
Many of them called Kirk a martyr, including conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who compared Kirk to the Christian martyr Stephen, whose death he said helped spread Christianity.
“
The power of martyrdom,” Johnson said. “This is how God and Christ always advance his kingdom and he’s doing it right now with Charlie Kirk.”
In a passionate speech, White House Deputy Chief of Staff said that in killing Kirk, enemies of the right had “immortalized” him.
“You have no idea the dragon you have awakened,” Miller said. “You have no idea how determined we are to save this civilization, to save the West, to save this republic.”
The anticipated 73,000-plus at State Farm Stadium in Glendale and thousands more expected to gather at a spillover site at Desert Diamond Arena across the street will also hear from Erika Kirk, the deceased’s widow, who on Thursday was named the new CEO of her late husband’s Turning Point movement.
Other speakers for the event include White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump Jr., former FOX news host Tucker Carlson, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor.
According to Turning Point USA
, contemporary American Christian performers Chris Tomlin, Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham and husband-and-wife duo Cody and Kari Jobe Carnes will lead the worship, which will also include musical performances by Lee Greenwood and Steve Amerson.
The Dress code for the event was “Sunday Best – Red, White or Blue.” As seen in the live videos, many of the attendees who started showing up at 8 a.m. and quickly filled the stadium’s lower bowl were decked out in patriot colours as they sang along and danced to live Christian music being played on stage.
With Trump et. al in attendance, security is at its highest for the event and hopeful attendees were warned of long wait times and a strict no bag policy.
As reported by
earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assigned it a Level Special Event Assessment Rating, the agency’s highest, reserved for events like the Super Bowl and Boston Marathon.
ABC also obtained a memo from DHS, the FBI, the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which said the agencies were “tracking several threats of unknown credibility” against Trump, Vance and members of the Kirk family.
Kirk died from a single gunshot wound while speaking outside at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected gunman, has been charged with murder. A clear motive for the murder hasn’t been established, but charging documents indicate text messages between Robinson and his transgender romantic partner that he had “had enough” of Kirk’s hatred.
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