Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk will be remembered at a memorial service this weekend, more than a week after he was assassinated during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Turning Point USA, the nonprofit political youth organization Kirk co-founded, announced a public memorial service will take place on Sunday at State Farm Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals outside Phoenix. Doors are scheduled to open at 8 a.m., while the program is planned to start at 11 a.m.
Anyone planning to attend the memorial must register online.
President Donald Trump, who said he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, has committed to traveling to Arizona for the memorial service.
The 31-year-old conservative activist was assassinated during an event he was hosting Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, just north of Provo. A suspect was arrested when a family member turned them in after seeing photos released by the FBI, authorities said.
Kirk’s body was transported to a Phoenix funeral home on Thursday after arriving in Arizona onboard Air Force Two, the plane reserved for the vice president. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance escorted Kirk’s casket aboard the aircraft alongside members of Kirk’s family, including his wife, Erika.
Kirk grew up in the Chicago suburbs but most recently resided in Arizona, where Turning Point USA is based.
Kirk was a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of the president. He led an effort to remake the GOP’s get-out-the-vote effort in the 2024 election based on the theory there were thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be persuaded to do so.
At 18, he co-founded Turning Point in the Chicago suburbs with William Montgomery, a tea party activist. They aimed to take their ideas for low taxes and limited government to college campuses. Kirk served as a personal aide to the then-candidate’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., during the general election campaign.
Kirk also was known for provocative statements on race that he used to court Gen Z voters.
His killing was the latest in a string of attacks on U.S. politicians that have targeted members of both major parties. Republicans and Democrats alike were swift to condemn Kirk’s assassination.
Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation. The president, who sustained a minor ear injury when he was shot at a campaign event last year, said he and Kirk had a close relationship.
“He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump said Friday.
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