GLENDALE, ARIZONA — The memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, fatally shot at a Utah university earlier this month, opened with emotional speeches that blended grief, gratitude, and faith.
Pastor Rob McCoy, Kirk’s longtime pastor, began by thanking Turning Point USA staff for staging the organization’s largest-ever event and assuring the crowd it was “alive and well.”
McCoy said others would recount Kirk’s accomplishments, but as his pastor, his role was to explain “the why in what he did.” He declared that Kirk wanted Jesus to be the “guest of honor,” describing Christ as “the king of glory, the prince of peace, the savior of the world … the total embodiment of love, the total embodiment of truth.” He reminded the crowd that Kirk committed his life to Jesus at an early age, believed salvation came only through Christ’s sacrifice, and lived without fear, knowing his life was secure in God’s hands.
The memorial opened with a Christian band leading the stadium in worship, the sound of tens of thousands singing familiar hymns filling the air. It was a striking contrast to the atmosphere of a Trump rally, where patriotic staples and pop anthems like “Y.M.C.A.” usually set the tone. Here, the music underscored the service’s blend of faith and politics, with the crowd at times singing a cappella, their voices echoing through the arena.
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Mikey McCoy, son of Rob McCoy, recalled the life-changing moment he first met Kirk while driving him and his then-girlfriend, Erika, to the airport. “The entire car ride, he was grilling me on Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, American history. At the end, he said, ‘Don’t go to college, come work for me.’ Instead, at 18, I canceled my college plans, moved to Arizona. My life was forever changed by Charlie.”
He described how working at Turning Point USA even led him to meet his wife, Elizabeth, whom Kirk had once interviewed on his podcast: “Elizabeth and I were married a year later. Thank you, Charlie.”
Mikey McCoy’s voice grew heavier as he reflected on Kirk’s death. “Eleven days ago, my friend was martyred for using his voice to engage in peaceful dialogue. Charlie’s assassin thought he could steal and silence his voice by putting a bullet in his neck. In the words of Søren Kierkegaard, ‘The tyrant dies and his rule is over. The martyr dies and his rule has just begun.’” He vowed Kirk’s movement would only grow stronger: “We won’t cower in fear. We will never surrender. We are resolved to live free from lies and seek out what is true.”
After his emotional tribute, the program turned to Tyler Bowyer, one of Kirk’s closest colleagues and the longest-serving employee at Turning Point USA. Bowyer, now CEO of Turning Point Action, introduced himself as both a co-worker and a friend who had been with Kirk since the organization’s earliest days.
“I met my friend Charlie in 2014 when Turning Point USA was just in its infancy,” he recalled. “We went to work every day on a 24-hour clock. Between me and him, we were a team that was never off the clock, full coverage.” He described their routine of working late into the night, sending updates and waiting for Kirk’s first replies in the morning, “a flurry of brilliant Charlie Kirk ideas as soon as he opened his eyes.”
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Bowyer credited those early years of constant brainstorming and hustle with laying the foundation for Turning Point USA’s growth into a national conservative powerhouse. He also spoke more personally, recalling the honor of toasting at Kirk’s wedding to Erika, a relationship that began after she was recruited to work at Turning Point USA. “I lost an employee,” he joked, “but now she’s my boss.” Watching their marriage and family grow alongside the organization, he said, was one of the great privileges of his life.
After Bowyer, Andrew Kolvet, Turning Point USA spokesman, business partner, and executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show, took the stage.
“Charlie and I built the show over eight years, brick by brick,” he said, praising the producers, editors, and social media team who made it possible. Continuing the podcast after Kirk’s death had been “excruciating,” Kolvet admitted, but “we knew it’s exactly what Charlie would want.”
Despite Kirk’s packed schedule, Kolvet said the daily show was his “favorite part of the routine,” and he read every listener email. “It’s truly remarkable,” he said. “At the end of every show, I’d check the sent folder and find six or seven email chains with someone who disagreed.”
Kolvet told the crowd Kirk’s audience was his anchor: “You were his firewall for freedom. You were his North Star. When he met fancy elites who tried to take him off course, he knew better, because he knew all of you.”
He concluded, “Charlie Kirk was a prophet, not the fortune-telling kind but the biblical kind. He confronted evil, proclaimed the truth, and called us to repent and be saved. He wasn’t mean about it. He was kind, he was loving, and he desperately wanted the best for all of us.”
Also taking the stage was Benny Johnson, a right-wing podcaster with more than 5 million subscribers on YouTube. Just a day earlier, his program opened with a dramatic montage of fighters in body armor wielding guns and swords under the title “American Martyr: How Christians Should Avenge Charlie Kirk’s Death: ‘Nationwide Revival.’”
At the memorial, Johnson declared that Kirk’s assassination had triggered a “thermonuclear spiritual war.” He turned to scripture, quoting the New Testament: “Do you want to be free from the fear of authority? Then do what is right, and you will be commended … for the rulers do not bear the sword in vain.”
Frank Turek, a Christian apologist and longtime mentor to Kirk, offered one of the most emotional recollections of the day of the shooting itself. Turek had been with Kirk on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University and described the chaos that followed when the gunman opened fire.
“When that shot rang out, I took a step toward him, but his security team was on him immediately,” Turek said. He rushed with them to the SUV as Kirk’s team tried desperately to save his life. “We did everything we could, but Charlie was gone.”
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Turek said Kirk’s final moments gave him peace. “His face was looking at mine, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking past me, right into eternity. If it’s any comfort at all, I learned later that Charlie felt no pain. He died instantly.”
He told the crowd that Kirk’s place in heaven was not because of his accomplishments or sacrifices but because of his faith. “Charlie Kirk is in heaven not because he was a great husband and father, not because he saved millions of kids out of darkness on college campuses, not because he changed minds or sacrificed himself for his savior. Charlie is in heaven because his savior sacrificed himself for Charlie Kirk.”