A crowd of students and community members gathered Thursday evening on the South Quad to honor conservative figure and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University on the first stop of The American Comeback Tour 2025. Authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah in connection with the killing on Friday.
The vigil was organized by the TPUSA chapter at the University and advertised on social media. Organizers, students and community members first met in a classroom in Gregory Hall around 7 p.m. before collectively traveling to the South Quad where they formed a circle and held flashlights.
Throughout the event, several members of the TPUSA chapter’s executive board gave speeches praising Kirk and his legacy.
“Charlie proved himself as the most influential political pundit of our time,” said Sam Holmes, sophomore in LAS and president of the TPUSA chapter, in an interview with The Daily Illini. “I truly think he will go throughout history as a martyr for righteousness.”
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Holmes said the TPUSA chapter at the University and other supporters plan to continue in Kirk’s footsteps.
“We’re going to take his ambitions, his ideals, his drive for spreading conservatism around the country and push it to the fullest extent possible, all in memory of him,” Holmes said.
After the executive board delivered speeches to the crowd, they opened up the floor for others to speak. Several people from the circle stepped in to highlight Kirk’s impact on their lives and the conservative movement and to lead biblical prayers for him.
Michael DeCoste, senior in LAS, attended and spoke at the vigil.
“I didn’t fully agree with him on his politics, but I still acknowledge that he was a father and a husband,” DeCoste told The DI. “I think it is still tragic that, now, his young children have to grow up without a father.”
Several of the speakers, including Holmes, condemned political violence, saying people should not be killed for their beliefs.
“By us recognizing we’re people, slowly but surely we’ll become a more unified and cohesive society,” Holmes said.
Another executive board member for the TPUSA chapter, Evan Chiu, similarly criticized the rise of political violence in an interview with The DI. He said the issue was not unique to one side of the political aisle, citing the killing of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband earlier this summer.
“It needs to stop,” Chiu said. “It’s a nationwide problem. Charlie Kirk’s death brings this issue up to the point of national attention and people will start to recognize this as a more significant problem. Maybe our leaders can finally make policies to put some change towards this.”
Members of Illini Republicans were also in attendance, and the group shared a written statement with The DI discussing the situation. They expressed condolences for Kirk’s family and others affected by the killing. They also stated their opposition to political violence.
“We know that Mr. Kirk’s brave message of an empowered populous through open discourse as well as his inspiration to the youth of this country will endure, despite him no longer being with us,” the statement read.
Another attendee, Jerry Venute, from Danville, Illinois, said he was encouraged to see students attending the vigil.
“It’s wonderful to see the youth and how he touched their lives,” Venute said.
Radek, junior in Engineering who did not share his last name, said while he distanced himself from conservatism, he “cannot stand anybody who gets killed for speaking their mind.”
Six UIPD officers were present at the event. Members of the I-Team were also in attendance, as part of an ongoing University effort to help “ensure expression of First Amendment rights at events on campus,” according to its website.
Earlier this year, Kirk hosted an event for the tour at the University, where he drew a crowd of several thousand to Foellinger Auditorium. He previously spoke at the University in 2017. Both events also drew protests.
Kirk was the “leading voice among a cohort of young conservative activists who emerged during the Trump era,” according to The New York Times. The right-wing activist was known for hosting campus debates around the country. He co-founded TPUSA in 2012, which accrued tens of millions of followers across TikTok, Youtube, Instagram and X through short-form videos of debate clips and podcasts.
In 2019, Kirk launched Turning Point Action, a political advocacy group that backed conservative candidates running for office through mobilization campaigns and political rallies, including for President Donald Trump.
After winning the 2024 Presidential election, Trump thanked Kirk and his staff for their “relentless efforts to achieve this very historic victory.”
Kirk, a self-declared supporter of free speech, espoused conservative viewpoints. He opposed abortion and gun control, and was critical of gay and transgender rights and the separation of church and state, according to The New York Times. He also criticized the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the BBC, Kirk was seen as both “the future of conservative activism as well as a highly polarising figure.”
Chiu said TPUSA plans to continue to advocate in Kirk’s honor.
“We will not go anywhere,” Chiu said. “We will not diminish into obscurity. We will stay here every day, every semester, fighting for what Charlie always strived for.”
