Ashlee Rivera used to watch every single one of Charlie Kirk’s videos. So on the anniversary of his assassination, she couldn’t help but cry.
“He was just such a great person and just a tremendous loss. He really loved our country,” she said through tears.
Rivera was among the mourners who came to the Turning Point USA headquarters in Ahwatukee Foothills to mark the Sept. 10 anniversary of his murder.
It’s been one year since Kirk was shot and killed at age 31 at a Turning Point event on a Utah campus. The moment shocked the nation and shone a light on the country’s tense political divide.
“It really opened our eyes. I think it made us see how divided we were and how differently half of us think,” said Andrea Montierth, who lives in Bowling Green,
Kentucky, and attended the memorial virtually on a FaceTime call with Rivera, a Phoenix resident.
Kirk was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative powerhouse that blended political organizing, media and fundraising to become a force during the Trump era. Kirk was known for sharing his controversial views on the popular “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast and by debating liberal students on college campuses.
His family, friends and supporters marked the anniversary of his murder with events around the country.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, was honored by President Donald Trump the evening of Sept. 9 at the Republican midterm convention in Texas. A statue of Kirk was unveiled in New York City’s Times Square. Turning Point leaders returned to the site of his death for an event at Utah Valley University. Vice President JD Vance called into “The Charlie Kirk Show" to pay his respects.
Meanwhile at the Ahwatukee headquarters where Kirk built his conservative empire, mourners came to remember Kirk and reflect on his life.
Signs lined the closed-down road to Turning Point’s offices with photos of Kirk and messages like “NEVER SURRENDER” and “IT’S OK TO LOVE YOUR COUNTRY." At the front gate, people passed through metal detectors and left flowers in front of a poster of the slain Turning Point leader.
That included Jana Cunningham, who brought her 2-year-old son, William, to honor Kirk with a bouquet.
“I see Charlie Kirk as such an amazing leader and an influential American. I want my son to eventually grow up and know that as well,” said Cunningham, who lives in Mesa.
Several people declined interviews through tears, saying they were too emotional to speak. April Flores of Yuma placed a bouquet of flowers outside the building and cried.
Turning Point blended remembering Kirk with political organizing. Staff members were on hand to register voters as part of the group’s “Fly the Flag” drive. “CHARLIE WANTS YOU TO REGISTER TO VOTE,” read a large banner that depicted Kirk in blue and white.
Staff handed out white “FREEDOM” T-shirts, a replica of the shirt Kirk was wearing when he was killed. The shirts quickly became a popular symbol of support in the days after he was assassinated.
The shirt was also preserved in bronze. Leaders unveiled a statue by the artist Quintin McCann that morning, which depicted Kirk tossing baseball caps in his “FREEDOM” T-shirt, a cross hanging from his neck. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, whom Kirk endorsed for governor, delivered remarks.
The anniversary was personal for Anna Rockey, a 24-year-old nurse. She and her husband had looked up to Kirk and watched his videos daily. They both cried when they found out he had been killed.
So when Rockey’s husband was offered a job at Turning Point in the spring, the couple packed their bags and moved from Virginia to Phoenix.
“My husband realized that he wanted to change the world, I mean do something meaningful instead of just working a 9 to 5 that doesn't have an impact on our country. So that's why we moved,” Rockey said.
While Rockey came to the Phoenix headquarters, her husband spent the anniversary at the Utah event. Rockey said she recently toured Turning Point's offices and was impressed to learn how much work the group does through its faith and student outreach programs.
Turning Point’s campus chapters swelled after he was killed, and more churches and pastors joined Turning Point Faith, according to a memo from the organization.
“Obviously it’s a tragedy, but I think the Lord knew what he was doing, and I think that at the end of the day, the Lord is sovereign and he felt that Charlie's death could do more for the country than if he were to be alive still. And I think it really has made people just think and you know, kind of reconnect with God and realize what's truly important in life,” Rockey said.
Mourners also left with American flags and copies of Kirk’s book, “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life,” which was published posthumously last year.
A semitruck carting a mobile In-N-Out Burger trailer was parked in front of the campus. Nearby, another trailer wrapped with a picture of Charlie and Erika Kirk featured a large TV screen playing Turning Point videos.
The memorial drew out-of-town visitors like Anita Bartlett and Gabe St. Clair, who came to pay tribute to Kirk while they waited to catch a flight back to Oklahoma.
“It's just such a travesty,” Bartlett said. “I took a picture and did a video as we were walking in because it just, if I wasn't doing something to occupy my mind, I probably would have been crying the whole time walking in.”
Bartlett has two college-age daughters and said she admired the work that Kirk did to promote conservative values on campus.
“My youngest daughter, she really learned a lot from him,” Bartlett said. “She was so sad when all this happened.”
Others happened upon the event by chance.
Ray Hightower was working nearby when he noticed a Turning Point sign and decided to come to the memorial. He said it is important for people to start listening to each other instead of resorting to violence.
“When we do that, we find that the people we disagree with are not necessarily the evil rat bastards we think that they are,” Hightower said.
Kirk had been a familiar face in Hightower’s YouTube feed before he was killed. Hightower found it interesting to watch Kirk’s evolution over the years, saying the activist’s debate style became “tempered with diplomacy” as he got older.
Hightower acknowledged that many people have a negative impression of Kirk and what he stood for during his life. Kirk made controversial comments on issues such as race, gender and guns, which circulated online after he was killed.
“I don't blame them,” Hightower said. “The people who have negative impressions of Charlie Kirk probably haven't listened to his videos.”
That feeling was echoed by Elizabeth Fila, a Laveen resident who had been following Kirk for years before he was killed. Fila fled communist Poland with her parents when she was 6 years old, she said.
Fila’s family is politically divided. Her adult children send her clips of Kirk’s incendiary comments, but Fila feels they are missing the full picture of what he stood for. When Fila wears her Kirk T-shirt, her youngest child gets scared because of the reaction she will get from high school classmates, she said.
“This man wasn't doing anything wrong. He was just voicing his truth opinion, and he was bold enough and brave enough to do so,” Fila said. “It's sad that so many people have such a negative reaction towards somebody who just wanted to spread positivity and enforce religion and just the principles of this country.”
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com, on X and TikTok @stephanie_murr and on Instagram @stephaniemurray.news.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mourners honor Charlie Kirk at Turning Point Phoenix headquarters one year after death
