Thursday marks one year since conservative activist and leader of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University (UVU).
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) declared Sept. 10 Charlie Kirk Day in Utah and said moments of tragedy should not deepen divisions, but rather foster empathy.
Kirk was a well-known debater who went toe-to-toe with college students, liberals and occasionally public figures in a “Prove Me Wrong” format that allowed anyone to walk up to his table and discuss topics including immigration, race and social issues.
TPUSA is one of the most dominant youth-oriented conservative groups in the country, with chapters spread across U.S. universities. It also received extra chops after President Trump and Vice President Vance credited Kirk and the organization for electoral victories.
Although his wife, Erika Kirk, took over the nonprofit after his death, TPUSA is still left with a void that is difficult to fill, The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports.
Could the next Charlie Kirk be like Forrest Gump?: Blake Neff, another conservative activist who worked with Kirk, has taken over the radio program the “Charlie Kirk Show.”
He describes himself as being like Forrest Gump, Politico reports, because he was a little-known figure who was pushed, with luck and pluckiness, toward the center of many important moments for conservatives.
He shares Kirk’s values and aims to host healthy debate about conservative tenets without censoring or cancelling his opponents to silence them.
Trump and TPUSA: Trump called Kirk “a great friend” at Wednesday night’s Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas.
The president tied together his opponents and Kirk’s demise, saying “the mask came off the radical left” as people cheered Kirk’s death.
“Those same people are trying to get power over you in this election, and they’re all voting Democrat,” he added. “We will not let them win, in Charlie’s honor.”
Trump shouted out Erika Kirk, who was in attendance and received applause from the audience, along with chants of “Charlie.” She is set to speak Thursday night.
Memorial maelstrom: TPUSA is hosting a memorial Thursday night at UVU, which has once again split the campus, per the New York Times. While some students welcome the opportunity to honor Kirk, others, including those in the chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, are planning a protest outside the memorial.
“This is almost like making this a holiday,” Ethan Cunningham, the president of the campus Students for a Democratic Society, told the Times.
The university president also told the outlet that he is planning to attend the memorial and the protest to show that the university can foster dialogues on both sides.
The university canceled classes and ramped up security.
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