A celebration of life for conservative activist Charlie Kirk drew hundreds of people at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis Sunday evening.
Local elected officials, representatives from Kirk’s nonprofit organization Turning Point USA, and local students spoke to honor Kirk, who was shot and killed during an event at the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10. Kirk was 31 years old.
The event was organized by local sisters Gracie and Lindsey Miles. Speakers took to the microphone to call for peace, unity and faith following Kirk’s assassination.
Scott Brummer, a pastor and Lewis County commissioner, opened the vigil with a prayer.
“Father, tonight, we pray especially for Charlie’s family, for his beautiful wife and children, for all of his extended family, that you would fill them with your peace that surpasses all understanding,” Brummer said.
Rachel Anderson, the Turning Point USA college field representative overseeing Western Washington and Alaska, described Kirk as a “walking encyclopedia" and “the smartest man I’ve ever known.”
“I wanted to share a quote that he would always make us say, and it’s just commemorative of how Charlie was. It’s ‘Late to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and organize,’” Anderson said. “I know for a fact that, since his passing, he would want us to mourn and we have mourned, but he would want us to continue the work.”
Anderson said Turning Point USA has had over 32,000 students sign up wanting to get involved across the nation and advocated for attendees under the age of 26 to get involved.
“Honestly, it really has been hard, but I will say your prayers are working. I feel strong despite feeling sad at the same time. But thank you for coming out,” she said. “Thank you for supporting this movement of what Charlie stood for.”
Brummer returned to the microphone asking the crowd how it would respond to the loss to Kirk and how it would act. He called for attendees to be bold in their beliefs and in their faith, as Kirk was.
“We will honor Charlie in his memory by continuing to speak the truth in love. We will continue to be bold and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we will let this horrific act of violence be the spark that ignites the fire of God in our hearts,” Brummer said. “By our actions, by our words, by our deeds, by being doers of that very word that we believe in, our response to Charlie’s death is to be unified as a body of Christ, unified as a community that is bold, that is continuing to believe in one nation under God.”
Leia Medina, an Adna High School sophomore, asked attendees to honor Kirk by carrying forward his courage, his conviction and his love for truth.
“I know today feels heavy. We lost Charlie Kirk, and honestly, it’s hard to wrap our heads around it. No matter what people thought about his ideas, he stood for speaking up, being bold and not staying silent,” Medina said. “Right now, it’s easy for us to let pain turn into anger or for differences to push us even further apart, but that’s not what we need. What we need is unity. We need to remember that we are all people, we laugh, we cry, we hurt the same.”
Gabriel Cuestas, with Jesus Junction, said the younger generations are being lifted in faith like never before and encouraged more youth to learn more about the word of Jesus Christ.
“God is doing something in the young adults like I’ve never seen before. See, our generation is done with fake. We’re done with the gloss. We want something real, and we know that the only thing that is real is Jesus Christ, the son of God. He’s going to be proclaimed, and this has lit a fire under our feet,” Cuestas said. “This is not going to stop us. There’s going to be 100,000 that are going to rise up and preach the gospel in boldness and authority because that’s the only thing that matters.”
Washington GOP Chair and state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said he spoke with Kirk at a convention last year shortly after the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. He said the two conversed about how those in the public eye are always at risk of such dangers.
“It’s especially a risk if you have strong conviction because strong conviction draws people to you, and it also makes some people really angry,” Walsh said. “It was a short conversation, a minute or two. I was able to talk with Charlie Kirk about the risks anyone faces when you stand strong in conviction. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew that what he did exposed him to that, and he still stood strong because he believed, and he had conviction that drove him in what he did. That’s the reason that he drew so many young people to him.”
The Lewis County GOP also organized a vigil titled “Faithful and Unafraid” that took place at the Steve Ward Plaza on the Centralia College campus last Thursday to honor Kirk, as well as to remember the tragedy of 9/11 on its 24th anniversary. Another vigil for Kirk was also held in Rainier Friday evening.
