‘A big coming together for America’: Loyal followers gather for Kirk memorial

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Phoenix: Matthew Monfore and Steve Morse drove 19 hours from Jefferson City, Missouri, across the dead centre of America to Phoenix, Arizona, to say goodbye to Charlie Kirk.

The two friends headed straight for the headquarters of Kirk’s campaign organisation, Turning Point USA, where thousands have come to lay flowers, photos, flags and Bibles in tribute to their slain hero.

“You feel anger, you feel sadness, you feel shock at it – like, is this even real?” says Monfore, who volunteered for Turning Point at college campuses in California.

“When you’re turning on that screen or social media feed, and Charlie’s gone, it’s permanent. You’re not going to see any new content. So it’s good to be here with people that are feeling the same thing that you are. And it’s not just a screen. It’s physical, it’s real.”

Monfore and Morse are wearing T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of the conservative activist’s face. They are a big hit; plenty of people stop to take photos or inquire about how to get their own. The two men patiently speak to everyone, despite the baking desert sun. It’s 37 degrees.

Sunday’s memorial, to be held at the cavernous State Farm Stadium across town, will be the biggest event in MAGA-world since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. The stadium holds some 70,000 people, but an overflow arena has been booked, with organisers expecting at least 100,000.

Crosses at the makeshift memorial for Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.

Trump will headline the event, along with Kirk’s wife Erika, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s chief-of-staff Susie Wiles, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and scores of others. Tight security will be in place; on Saturday, Phoenix time (Sunday AEST), the Secret Service had already cordoned off blocks around the site.

On Friday, police arrested an armed man inside the stadium who claimed to be affiliated with law enforcement and displayed “suspicious behaviour”. But Turning Point later said the man was there to undertake “advance security for a known guest”.

Kirk’s assassination on September 10 while speaking at a university campus in Utah has rocked the US, especially the right. The 31-year-old was a prominent Trump ally, a masterful political organiser and a prolific speaker, who was embarking on a new college tour, challenging opponents to debate him on stage. Many touted him as a future president, including Trump.

But he was as polarising as he was prodigious. Many of Kirk’s critics point to remarks, especially from his early 20s, that they say are racist, homophobic or Islamophobic. He was proudly conservative, opposed abortion and argued gun deaths were a necessary by-product of the right to bear arms.

Charlie Kirk’s memorial will be held at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, with a capacity of more than 70,000. Donald Trump will attend.

Now, the country is grappling with the ramifications of yet another act of extreme political violence – the latest in a spate that some have compared to the 1960s, when then-president John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated.

“It’s been quite shocking seeing the different reactions,” says Joel Jammal, the head of Turning Point Australia, who flew from Sydney for the memorial.

“A lot of people have realised that there’s a lot of people who are cool with violence in the political discourse. I think a lot of people have taken a step back and said, ‘Hang on, we’ve got to walk back from total civil war here.’ The rhetoric’s got to be totally toned down.”

Jammal said some Americans he spoke to felt Kirk’s assassination was “a bit like 9/11 … There was a big coming together for America.”

“It’s been quite shocking seeing the different reactions,” says Joel Jammal, the head of Turning Point Australia.

He has watched the memorial outside Turning Point HQ grow each day as well-wishers leave bouquets that wilt in the oppressive sun, or use stones to weigh down Bibles opened to a certain passage. Plenty of people have written notes on sheets of paper, cardboard signs or baseball caps.

“You just gave all of us courage,” one says. “The courage to take on all things evil and stand up for what’s right.”

Another note reads: “A fire has been lit. The lion’s den has been shaken. Sleeping lions are being awakened.”

The idea that Kirk’s murder will be an inflection point is a common refrain. Although police have charged a suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah, many conservatives believe Kirk’s murder is not really the doing of one person. Rather, they feel left-wing politics is responsible, and they are demanding a response.

A vigil for Charlie Kirk the night before the memorial.

The Trump administration is intent on providing one. Trump has blamed “the radical left”, while his deputy chief-of-staff Stephen Miller has vowed to crack down on non-government organisations and activists he accuses of inciting violence against conservatives.

Monfore says it is justified. “While we don’t call for any vigilante actions, there will be repercussions through law, through our government dealing with people that are spreading this rhetoric.”

Hannah Brune and her grandmother, Jennifer Seibert, at a memorial for Charlie Kirk in Phoenix.

Nearby the memorial, some people are selling MAGA T-shirts and other merchandise, including caps that say: “Trump 2028”. Another man, Michael Degeraty, is giving away copies of a book, The Great Controversy, by one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ellen G. White.

As the sun set on Saturday, well-wishers held candles and recited prayers in what has become a nightly vigil. Many people – Monfore and Morse among them – intend to spend the night nearby in their cars to try to get a good spot in the queue for the memorial.

Jennifer Seibert, 64, attended with her 20-year-old granddaughter Hannah Brune. “It’s very sad to me,” she said, fighting back tears. “That we live in a time that a young man could be struck down for his belief ... That his life could be taken because he had a different opinion is very tragic.”

“We need to celebrate his life. We need to remember. The point needs to be this,” Seibert said, gesturing to the memorial. “Not his death. It’s not only the United States – the world needs the change. We have to somehow unite and respect as people, and that’s been lost.”