Four days after the assassination of conservative youth icon and Turning Point USA cofounder Charlie Kirk, over 2,400 people came to honor him at a vigil for him at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The Daily Signal’s Digital Media Manager Tim Kennedy and Digital Media Fellow Olivia Pero spoke with attendees about what they were thinking as they waited in line to enter the venue and what impact, if any, Kirk had on their lives.
“I’m old enough to be his mom, and he changed my life,” said a 53-year-old woman. “He taught me so much, and this has been really hard.”
A mother with her husband and three young sons said she was glad they brought their boys because Kirk’s death would “be part of their history books.”
She added that Kirk impacted her by “wanting to be more family oriented” and wanting to raise her sons “to love the Lord.”
One 18-year-old boy, who said he’s about to start college, said he watched a lot of Kirk’s videos and debates he’d hold on college campuses.
“I just find that really impactful that he [Kirk] can go places, and he can speak his mind in places that typically you’re not able to speak your mind like that,” he said. “One thing that Charlie Kirk has taught me is that I can speak my mind on these situations. It’s my right to do so.”
A mother of four said she’s never “felt so much loss for someone that I didn’t personally know.”
“My children were devastated, [and] my friends have all been devastated,” she added. “I’m a former Democrat, and I didn’t recognize how faith could be a part of your political life, and it didn’t make you a terrible person.”
A Moms for Liberty chapter president quoted Romans 8:28: “All things work together for good to those that love the Lord, who are called according to his purpose.”
“Charlie Kirk was called, according to the purpose,” she said.
Another young man said he didn’t realize how big of an impact Charlie had on so many people.
“I really thought of him first and foremost as more of a political figure,” he said. “After his death, I realized what a spiritual impact he had on people … which is better because it’s more eternal.”
