Charlie Kirk memorial at Utah Valley University
by Jolyon: Charlie Kirk
The case file on Charlie Kirk's death still has pages nobody has filled in, and that's the part most of the party would rather you skip past. He was 31, fifteen minutes into a campus speech at Utah Valley University, the first stop on what was billed as an American Comeback Tour, when one bullet struck his neck. A year later UVU has canceled classes and Turning Point USA is staging a memorial on that same campus called Freedom Built to Last. The organization Kirk started, now led by his widow Erica, says its footprint has exploded: 33,500 high school clubs, a 180 percent rise, and 1,500 college chapters, up 64 percent. Grief converted into turnout, and the receipts are there. What hasn't been folded away is the inquiry. Online researchers have spent the year picking apart every angle of the killing, and much of that push came from Candace Owens, once a close friend and colleague of Kirk's. Her reward, along with other reporters doing the same work, has been exile and the conspiracy-theorist stamp from the Republican establishment. Those two things don't cancel each other out. You can mourn a man and still insist on an honest reckoning of how he died. Kirk is buried. The machinery surrounding his death is not, and the questions left standing are far too many for anyone to declare this closed. Writer: Jamie
Transcript (en)
So one year ago, Charlie Kirk went to Utah Valley University. It was the first of a 15-stop itinerary called the American Comeback Tour, where he was scheduled to make appearances at college campuses across the country. He was about 15 minutes into the speaking event when a single bullet hit him in the neck. Kirk, who was just 31 years old, was pronounced dead later that afternoon. Kirk was well known for his college campus visits and impact on young voters nationwide, opening up the floor to debate while encouraging political participation. His supporters saw his death as a call to action. And over the last year, the national movement that Kirk built, Turning Point USA, says it's seen an unprecedented expansion. The organization, now led by Kirk's wife, Erica, says it has 33,500 high school clubs, up 180 percent from the year before. It has 1,500 college chapters, marking a 64 percent increase. Turning Point says Charlie's mission lives on through more than one million students. And look, we as an organization are going to use every single, really, weapon in our inventory to try to fight back against this. Classes will not be held at Utah Valley University today as the school marks the one-year anniversary. Turning Point is planning to hold a memorial on campus tonight called Freedom Built to Last.
