SALT LAKE CITY — Several hundred young Utahns, most clad in their Sunday best, filled the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday to celebrate the life of Charlie Kirk on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
Student speakers and politicians promised to continue the mission of Kirk, the conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, who was assassinated just over a month earlier while speaking to students at Utah Valley University.
Kirk’s death has prompted an outpouring of interest in local Turning Point USA chapters, including at the chapter at Brigham Young University, where hundreds of students have asked about getting involved, according to Nathan Neuhaus, the chapter’s outreach coordinator.
“He will go down in history as a true American hero,” he said. “The way that he inspired people and the way that he defended the Constitution and the rights and liberties that we have is truly inspiring.”
President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — earlier Tuesday, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared the day Charlie Kirk Day in the Beehive State.
“On what would have been his 32nd birthday, we remember Charlie Kirk — who showed that principled dialogue and respect, even amid deep differences, strengthen our nation and our democracy,” the governor said on social media.
The students who organized Tuesday’s event agreed, saying Kirk was worthy of the recognition.
“A man who lived the life he lived in 31 years deserves this and more for the lives he’s changed and the things he’s done in those short years,” said Aubree Hudson, president of the chapter at BYU. “A life that was taken way too soon from us, but a life that will never be forgotten.”
Organizers handed out white T-shirts with the word “Freedom” written across the chest in black font, just like the one Kirk was wearing when he was shot and killed.
Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, asked attendees to hold their shirts up and urged them to continue the fight for freedom. Kennedy said he wished he had a mentor like Kirk when he was young and encouraged the young people in the audience to get married and start families, echoing Kirk’s frequent calls.
As at previous Turning Point events, the messages were a mix of politics and religion, with several speakers describing the U.S. as a nation that has turned away from Christian values. Repeated calls were made to return to those values, with some saying they represented a “silent majority” of Christians who are now speaking up.
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said “the strength of America has never started in Washington, D.C.,” but instead it starts with focusing on faith, family and freedom. The name of Kirk’s organization is apt, he said, because it’s “exactly what this is: a turning point.”
“The choices we make, how we live, what we value and what we pass on will determine what America looks like 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years from today,” he said.
Hudson said we live in a time when “truth is under attack, when courage is rare, when standing up for your faith takes real strength.”
“He believed in you. He fought for you,” she told the audience. “Tonight, we’re picking up his mic. It’s our turn.”
Several leaders of local Turning Point chapters are relatively new to the movement, their full-throated support catalyzed by the public assassination of Kirk. Attorney General Derek Brown said a “silver lining” of Kirk’s death may be a new generation of young people who will become involved in politics.
Jaxon Thurman, the vice president of the chapter at BYU, said he was at UVU when Kirk was shot and that he had hoped to introduce himself in person.
“I was going to introduce myself that day, and when I didn’t have the opportunity to introduce myself and try to get my foot in the door, I said, ‘OK. … I’m going to join this chapter, and I’m going to try to make it the biggest chapter in the nation,'” he told KSL.com last week. “So, I connected with Aubree, connected with Nathan, connected with the other people, and we’ve just been working our tails off ever since.”
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