On Sept. 15, the Desert Financial Arena at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona, roared with chants of “USA!” and “Charlie!” as the crowd gathered to honor the memory of their mentor, hero, and friend.
“I have to say, my heart is broken. But it’s so cool to see that Charlie affected so many lives around the world,” said Chris Gaffrey, college enterprise director at Turning Point USA, which Kirk co-founded at ASU more than a decade ago.
“There have always been leaders who carried a torch so bright they lit the path for the generation around them. Charlie was one of these leaders.”
Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Days after that tragic incident, pain, anger, and sorrow still hung heavy in the air at Monday’s vigil.
Denise Ruchala of Litchfield Park, Arizona, her eyes wet with tears, believes the world changed the day Kirk passed away.
“Hopefully for the better,” she said, holding a poster of Kirk while seated next to her husband, Bob Ruchala.
“I miss him tremendously.”
“We felt like we had a connection with him. Nobody will [replace him], unfortunately,” Bob Ruchala said.
Charlie Kirk was “one of a kind. There won’t be anybody like him.”
Denise Ruchala added: “Charlie had such an awesome knowledge base of biblical history, world history, current events, and how to be just a really good human in our world.”
Denise and Bob Ruchala of Litchfield Park, Ariz., hold a picture of slain conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk and a Make America Great Again hat during a vigil in Tempe, Ariz., on Sept. 15, 2025. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
The couple said they both plan to attend a memorial service for Kirk on Sept. 21 in Phoenix.
The irony, Denise Ruschala said, is that Kirk’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was the “type of person Charlie was trying to save.”
During the vigil, a stream of speakers took the stage offering words of remembrance and praise for the man they said devoted his life to his Christian faith and passion for logic and open debate.
“I came here tonight because I got a chance to say something about Charlie,” said Peter Gentala, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a nonprofit conservative lobbying group.
“First, when I think about Charlie, I’ve got one word that comes to mind. Charlie Kirk was ready.”
“He was ready to talk about ideas. He was ready with a smile. He was ready to listen. He was ready to look you in the eyes,” Gentala said.
“He was ready to make you laugh. He was ready to hear points of view that he just didn’t agree with. He was ready to argue his case and hear others argue theirs.”
“He was ready to change minds,” he added.
Charlie Kirk supporters wave American flags during a vigil honoring the fallen conservative youth leader in Tempe, Ariz., on Sept. 15, 2025. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
Charlie Kirk throws hats to the crowd shortly before he was shot at Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2025. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Reuters)
Above all, Kirk was determined to demonstrate that politics is not an abstract concept, Gentala said.
“It’s always about people,” he said, and Charlie Kirk was “ready to love his neighbor as himself.”
Anthony Watson, addressing the audience as one of Kirk’s regular contributors, asked the big question: “What’s next?”
Will the movement that is Turning Point USA continue? And who will lead it?
“Look at what happened when one person who was willing to stand against everything that opposed him for the truth, the reaction that he caused,” Watson said.
“But here’s the truth that we need to be reminded of tonight. Evil doesn’t win. You’re seeing every moment that we push on. We motivate ourselves to continue because that’s what Charlie wanted. When one person falls, another person steps in. When one person falls behind, another person steps up.”
Gaffrey said Kirk’s vision, courage, and deep love for his country lit a path for thousands of young people, inspiring them with hope, guiding their steps, and filling their lives with purpose.
“Now that Charlie is gone, the weight feels heavier, and the path feels harder,” Gaffrey said.
“You may feel more alone than ever, but the truth is, he didn’t carry that torch just for himself. He carried it so he could hand it off to us.”
“And now, it is our turn,” he added.
Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec said he was Kirk’s friend—“and he will always be my friend.”
Wearing a white T-shirt with the words, “I am Charlie,” he told the crowd of supporters that as a friend, Kirk “did not die in vain.”
“As long as there is blood in my veins and air in my lungs,” Posobiec said, he will never let Kirk’s opponents and detractors forget the name of Charlie Kirk.
“Not as long as I’m alive,” he said.
