Charlie Kirk memorial begins as Trump and Vance expected among thousands of attendees - latest updates

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at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Many people traveled far and wide to pay tribute to Charlie Kirk in Glendale on Sunday. Among them was Eddie Wallin, a 30-year-old from Sweden who crossed the Atlantic to honor the slain organizer.

His journey took him from Sweden to Texas, where he rented a car and said he drove 17 hours straight to make it to Glendale in time for the memorial. He subsisted on bananas and other sugary provisions to keep him alert.

Wallin, wearing a white shirt emblazoned with “Freedom,” said he had first met Kirk in 2019, during a trip to Texas. He recalled that Kirk, smiling, told him he’d never thought he’d meet a Swedish conservative. Six years later, Wallin said he encountered Kirk again during the 2024 presidential election and was surprised when the organizer, by then a hugely prominent figure in Maga politics, remembered him.

“After so many years he remembered me,” Wallin said. “I will remember him for my whole life.”

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

For much of the morning, attendees in the packed stadium have been listening to Christian worship music.

Many sang along with the lyrics, while some raised their hands and swayed. It’s a striking contrast from a Trump rally where the play list often features Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, the Village People’s YMCA and Luciano Pavarotti’s“Ave Maria”.

The event, like Turning Points itself, has blended faith and politics for a new generation of conservatives.

Chris Tomlin, a Christian music singer, is singing now along with the audience, which joins him for the refrain: “You will always be holy / holy forever.”

As he left the White House for Phoenix this morning, Donald Trump praised Charlie Kirk’s mobilization of college students through Turning Point USA, the organization that he founded instead of going to college himself.

“For a young man, he did a great job, a tremendous job,” Trump said. “He had a hold on youth because they loved him. They respected him. And if you go back 10 years, those colleges were dangerous places for conservatives. And now they’re hot. They’re very hot. Just like this country is hot.”

As our colleague Alice Speri reported, TPUSA has over 900 chapters on college campuses and claims to have “incubated” more than 350 rightwing influencers over the years.

Kirk himself, however, was broadly unpopular among college students, according to polling after his death. Research done for Puck last week revealed that 70% of students surveyed, at community colleges, technical colleges, trade schools, and public and private four-year institutions, said that they disagreed with Kirk’s views. Just 30% said they agreed with what he had to say.

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

All around the arena are black and white photos of Charlie Kirk, with his wife, Erika, and their children. One shows him tossing a Maga hat into the crowd and several of him speaking.

Emotions were raw in the stadium, as the band played a lengthy instrumental interlude and the camera panned the crowd, which rose to its feet, holding red, black and white signs that said “Turning Points.” One group held a poster with a sketch of Kirk and the biblical verse, “Here I am Lord. Send me.”

Loud applause rang out when the monitor showed an image of Kirk. An announcer called Kirk a “our friend and hero”.

Charlie Kirk’s memorial service is set to begin shortly.

Among the notable speakers include Donald Trump, JD Vance, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio.

Kirk’s wife, Erika, is also due to deliver remarks.

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Officials and prominent Maga world influencers are filling the arena.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was among those who have arrived. Conservative activist Scott Presler posed for photos and Steve Bannon was spotted being escorted around into the venue. Elon Musk said on X he was in attendance.

Credentialed alongside the traditional press corps are several new media podcast hosts, YouTubers and young influencers, including some children – a testament to his vast influence on young conservatives.

In the days leading up to today’s memorial service, AI-generated tributes to Charlie Kirk, which appeared to present his own commentary from beyond the grave, filled the internet and were even played during services at megachurches.

One of the first to appear was a reassuring message in an AI clone of Kirk’s voice that was created within hours of Kirk’s death and then played last Sunday at Dream City church, the Phoenix megachurch where Kirk worshipped, and held political events, including a Trump rally in 2020.

One of the many AI-generated messages created immediately after Kirk’s death was a video shared by a far-right English nationalist that pictured him with an angel’s wings, urging his supporters to double down on support for Israel, and vilifying supporters of Palestine, including an AI-generated image of a scowling Greta Thunberg.

J Oliver Conroy

In the emotionally and politically charged days since the killing of Charlie Kirk, the rightwing youth activist who was a close ally of Donald Trump, one statement has loomed large. On Monday, the US attorney general – the official in charge of the rule of law in America – said that the Trump administration would “absolutely target” those who espouse “hate speech” about Kirk.

Unlike in many other countries, hate speech is protected by US law unless it incites imminent violence or constitutes a true threat. But that did not deter the nation’s top law enforcement officer, who also suggested that – for example – a print shop employee who refused to print flyers memorializing Kirk could be “prosecuted”.

Since Kirk was shot to death while speaking to college students in Utah earlier this month, the US has been gripped by a bitter debate about the relation between political speech and violence. Bondi later walked back some of her remarks, in part because of criticism from other conservatives worried about the reframing of “free speech” as “hate speech”. But Trump, JD Vance, White House adviser Stephen Miller and other top Republicans have framed Kirk’s death as the consequence of what they claim is unchecked and violent rhetoric, which they blame on the left wing alone.

It is a remarkable turn from prominent American conservatives, who until Trump’s return to power in January had long complained of a censorious leftwing “cancel culture” but now seem happy to reframe that, too, as “consequence culture”.

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Christina Sawick, wearing a “Trump was right about everything” hat, said she has been watching and listening to Kirk since 2016. This morning, she left her home in Mesa at 3am to attend his memorial service.

She said she appreciated Kirk’s willingness to debate anyone regardless of their politics or background. “He didn’t sugarcoat anything,” she said. “He just wanted to be heard and he wanted everybody to be heard.”

Sawick said going forward she hoped more Americans would accept – even if they don’t support – the president and his message. “I want people to get behind our president,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with making America great again.”

FBI restricts airspace surrounding State Farm stadium

The FBI has restricted the airspace surrounding State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona, ahead of Charlie Kirk’s funeral service.

In a post on X, the FBI said:

“All aircraft operators are reminded to check and verify FAA Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) before every flight. Drone operators who enter the restricted areas without permission could face drone confiscation, fines and potential criminal prosecution.

Pursuant to federal law, the FBI and/or other federal partners may take security action that results in the interference, disruption, seizure, damage to or destruction of any drone deemed to pose a credible safety or security threat.”

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Jeffrey Barke, a physician with a large online following, came with a group of friends from Orange county on what he called a “pilgrimage of sorts” to honor Charlie Kirk’s life and legacy.

“What you’re seeing here is not just a tribute to his movement, you’re seeing a revival of his message: faith, family, freedom,” Barke said, gesturing to the swelling crowd of supporters. Though only 31, Kirk left a lasting spiritual and political legacy, Barke said.

“I think every one of us needs to be a bit more uncomfortable than we’re used to in spreading Charlie’s message,” he said, pledging to use his own platform and social media presence to do so.

Thousands of people lined up early to fill a football stadium in Arizona for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, where the US president, Donald Trump, the vice-president, JD Vance, and other prominent Maga allies will pay tribute to the slain conservative activist.

Here are more pictures from the newswires of people arriving inside the venue and a first look at the stage setup:

Marjorie Taylor Greene has also issued a tribute to Charlie Kirk ahead of his memorial service.

Writing on X, the Georgia representative said:

“Today hundreds of thousands of people are gathering at State Farm Stadium in Arizona to remember and honor the life of Charlie Kirk. Simultaneously what is really happening is a revival. Through Charlie, people are meeting Jesus. Welcome to church!”

Alice Speri

Charlie Kirk was shot while speaking at the campus of Utah Valley University, near Salt Lake City, as part of the American Comeback tour, which is hosted by the university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter and was attended by as many as 3,000 people, according to Jeffrey Long, the police chief at the university.

Kirk had pioneered a style of ideological warfare against what he viewed as bastions of leftism, helping turn campuses into cultural battlefields and paving the way for Donald Trump’s unprecedented campaign to weaken American universities and subject them to his movement’s ideological agenda.

“Charlie Kirk will be remembered as one of the foremost architects of the political strategy of treating faculty and students with whom he disagrees as enemies to be defeated,” said Isaac Kamola, a political science professor at Trinity College whose research focuses on conservative efforts to undermine higher education.

at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Thousands of people wearing red, white and blue are pouring into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. Lines snaked several blocks earlier this morning before sunrise in the desert, where temperatures were expected to near 100 this afternoon.

Inside, many followers of Kirk, the vast stadium was dotted with red MAGA hats and American flags. Seats began to fill hours before the official program was due to begin. Some supporters were already in tears as they listened to a Christian rock group that was performing on stage.