Crowds attend Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Arizona
UPDATE (5:20 PM): Tens of thousands of mourners gathered for a memorial service honoring the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Crowds of people, which organizers say more than 200,000 people registered, went inside State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, wearing their red, white and blue Sunday best, as requested by organizers.
The stadium was filled with the sights and sounds of worship.
Supporters held signs with messages paying tribute to Kirk, who was shot and killed earlier this month during an event on the campus of Utah Valley University.
The crowds so massive that overflow space has been set up at an arena nearby.
Among those in attendance, longtime Kirk supporters, families young and old, and Republican operatives from across the country, including President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and top cabinet officials.
In addition to President Trump, Vice President Vance and Erika Kirk, Kirk's pastor, Rev. Rob McCoy, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the memorial.
During the service, Erika Kirk fought back tears as she took the podium. She spoke about the difficulty of having to identify her husband's body.
"Even in death, I could see the man that I love. I saw the one single gray hair on the side of his head, which I never told him about...now he knows. Sorry baby...telling you now. Never told him, didn't want to. I also saw this. I also saw on his lips the faintest smile and told me something important. It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. When I saw that it told me Charlie didn't suffer. Even the doctor told me it was something so instant that even, even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room itself, nothing could've been done."
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow
In a powerful moment, she offered forgiveness to the accused shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
"That man. That young man. I forgive him...I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us," she expressed.
Erika Kirk is now leading the conservative movement, Turning Point USA, that her husband founded as its CEO and promises to continue his work.
Trump delivered the final speech at the memorial service, with the president eulogizing Kirk as a "martyr for American freedom," and praised him for wanting the best for his opponents, saying that's where he disagreed with Kirk.
"I hate my opponent, and I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry Erika, but now Erika can talk to me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that's not right, but I can't stand my opponent," Trump spoke.
The president declared history would not forget Charlie Kirk saying, "While Charlie has been reunited with his Creator in Heaven, his voice on Earth will echo through the generations and his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of American's greatest patriots, he will live forever."
The president also said Robinson should face "the full and ultimate punishment."
Following the speech, Trump and Erika Kirk stood together at the end of the service after he called her to join him on stage.
GLENDALE (NBC, KYMA) - Crowds gathered before dawn for the Charlie Kirk memorial at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona Sunday.
The event is expected to draw a crowd as large as 100,000 people, with speakers including President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Kirk's widow Erika.
Heavy security, designated at level-one from the Department of Homeland Security, has federal and local officials working together.
Kirk supporters came to offer their respects, and many commented on what they think Kirk would think of the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and others under threat of losing their jobs for things they have said in the wake of his death.
"Of course Charlie lost his life, where Jimmy Kimmel was just suspended from a job. And that's not because of free speech, that's because he was lying, you know about the killer being MAGA when we all knew that that wasn't the case. And he was also let go because his ratings are atrocious," said one Kirk supporter.
"I think they've been dismissed for their actions not for their words. They still have freedom of speech, but where you do it..particularly; it they were in a governmental place or somewhere that was public, if you do it at your job your employer has the right to dismiss ya," said another Kirk supporter.
"I believe it is kinda stepping on the First Amendment rights, i mean everyone has a right to say something but yeah, in a respectful way. I just believe that the way that they got rid of Jimmy Kimmel was for money, just his ratings and um that's why they did it they wanted to protect their asset they wanted to protect their business and that's why they did it," said another Kirk supporter.
To watch the livestream of the memorial, see attached video.
