Charlie Kirk's funeral here on Sunday will mark a turning point for the grassroots conservative movement he started as a youth and was...
Charlie Kirk's funeral here on Sunday will mark a turning point for the grassroots conservative movement he started as a youth and was working to grow when he was shot and killed earlier this month.
For people who supported Kirk, the days since his death have been marked by both deep sadness and anger at the people and groups they think helped kill him. His death at age 31 has united those who believed in his conservative ideas and Christian faith, and they have decided to keep building up Kirk's movement.
But political leaders and some of Kirk's most visible supporters have turned their anger into harsh punishments for people they say are stirring up political violence or making fun of a man they see as a leader for future generations. People are afraid that the government will crack down on opposition because of how they responded to the killing. This has made the country very tense.
There will likely be a lot of people there to mourn, and they will hear tributes from President Donald Trump, a number of conservative leaders, including top administration officials and Kirk's wife, Erika, in her first speech as CEO of the group Kirk started, Turning Point USA.
Trump has been in the news a lot since almost the time Kirk was shot on a Utah college campus. Trump first said that Kirk had been shot at the event and then said that he had died. It was Trump who said in a Fox News interview that a suspect in Kirk's death was in police custody. Trump will be the last person to speak at the event on Sunday.
Aides say that Trump has spent a lot of time writing his speech, which will include personal thoughts on his friend and how he has affected his political cause. People expect Trump's speech to be more personal than most presidential speeches, but he is known for going off script.
Throughout, Trump has thought of Kirk as a close friend who helped him win elections and shape his government. Going after "radicals on the left," whom he says are to blame for the violent situation that led to Kirk's death, hasn't done much to cool things down on a national level.
A person who is close to Kirk said that Trump's announcement wasn't planned, but those who knew the political worker well were grateful that Trump took charge when they were all sad.
One source said, "Everyone was so shocked and upset that it seemed impossible to explain what happened." They also said that Kirk's popularity had grown so much that it wasn't clear how they could properly tell his fans the sad news. "He was nice to us." Charlie really did love President Trump. It made sense.
Trump called Kirk's wife while she was still in the hospital to say he was sorry. One source said the tone of the call was emotional. Not long after that, plans began to make Trump's trip to Arizona for the funeral.
Trump said last week at the White House, "They asked me to go." "I feel like I owe it to you."
The event will take place at Glendale, Arizona's State Farm Stadium, which can hold more than 70,000 people. It will likely give us a glimpse into how Kirk's friends and family have been feeling since he was shot.
Besides Trump, Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy will all talk at the funeral. The White House is sending two planes full of staff from Joint Base Andrews to Arizona on Sunday. This shows how close Kirk became with many people close to Trump. Sources said that the speeches would not be looked over in any way before they were made.
Many people who were close to Kirk are well-known and have publicly mourned on social media, with some crying, others getting angry, and still others wanting more than just justice for the man who is charged with shooting and killing Kirk.
One of Kirk's friends told CNN, "They took my f**king friend." "We should get justice." People who knew Kirk well say that the hours after he died were a mess. One of the sources said that when Kirk's wife and some of his closest friends and coworkers heard about the killing, they all flew straight to Utah. Several people who spoke to them said that their main worry was keeping Erika Kirk informed and making sure she was on her way. As Charlie Kirk's friends and family tried to find out what was going on with him, different pieces of information were being passed around.
One source told CNN, "He lost so much blood, but we thought there was a chance."
The person said that doctors finally told Kirk's family and friends that there was no way to bring him back from the moment the bullet hit him. Many of the people who worked for the White House and the Department of Justice and were close friends of Kirk were told about his death. Erika Kirk asked people to do something in her first public speech after he died.
"You have no idea how fiery this wife is because of what you did." "This widow's cries will be heard all over the world like a battle cry," she said, promising to make his cause bigger and stronger. Her words were, "I will make Turning Point USA the biggest thing this country has ever seen." "I promise." Some conservatives see Erika Kirk's promotion to CEO of Turning Point as a chance to get young women involved in the movement, similar to how her late husband got young men to support Trump and conservative causes.
According to the group, interest has grown a lot since Charlie Kirk's death. Since then, more than 62,000 high school and college students have asked to start new chapters or join current ones.
With all the new attention, conservative leaders have started a witch hunt against people they say celebrated Kirk's death. They are pointing out their social media posts, calling their workplaces, and putting out personal information about them.
A lot of well-known Democrats spoke out against political violence and said they were sorry for Kirk's death, even though they also pointed out some of his more controversial views on race, gender, and guns. In Kirk's name, the White House has promised to use the federal government to go after liberal groups. This makes it seem like his killer was part of a bigger movement that encouraged violence against conservatives. Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff, has been one of the people in charge of this job. One person who knows Miller said that he cares about the cause because he is a close friend of Kirk's and will be speaking at the funeral. According to the person, one of Kirk's last texts to Miller said that the government should look into groups that he said were "fomenting" violence and cut them off from money.
In the days after Kirk's death, Miller blamed riots on a "network of organizations," naming Black Lives Matter rallies in particular. In response to Kirk's killing, Black Lives Matter spoke out against political violence. In a statement, a board member said, "Vigilante justice has no place in a just society." Not to the left. Not to the right. Not because of racism or because it's the right thing to do. It should always be turned down.
Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to attend the funeral on Sunday. An extra viewing area is being set up for people who can't fit inside the stadium, according to a source. Some of Kirk's friends were worried about possible security risks around the event, but they said they would still go anyway. After Kirk was killed, the Secret Service has been protecting some high-level White House officials, such as press secretary Karoline Leavitt, because of safety concerns.
A top official in the Department of Homeland Security said that the event has been given a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1. This means that the government can use a lot of its resources to keep people safe. The official said, "This designation is only given to events of the utmost national importance. It allows the federal government to provide all the law enforcement and security resources needed to assist local officials in making sure the event is safe and successful."
This name has also been used for other big events, like the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby.