Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty
We went to Charlie Kirk’s one-year memorial service at the site of his death. And it was full of contradictions—conspiracy theorists colliding with diehard supporters and counter protesters.
September 10 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of conservative youth activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, which sits just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. According to event organizers, thousands of people made the trek to the university event center to remember the founder of Turning Point USA. While it was mostly fans of Kirk and locals who had made the journey, none of the attendees happened to be from the Trump administration, unless you count Trent Staggs, the former mayor of Riverton, Utah and failed Senate candidate who now works in the Small Business Administration.
The event was subdued and received little media coverage because most of the political world was instead focused on President Donald Trump, who scheduled his midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, for the same night, reportedly without consulting Kirk’s widow, Erika, or the Turning Point leadership.
But the Utah event nonetheless drew Kirk’s diehard supporters, as well as a few conspiracy theorists who don’t believe that his death was the result of a lone gunman. (Tyler Robinson, the alleged shooter, is currently on trial in Utah.) And of course, there were a handful of protesters, mostly UVU students who were unhappy to have the memorial event held on their campus for a man whose views they found distasteful. We spoke to people from all camps. Watch:
