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PHOENIX, ARIZ. – Supporters of Charlie Kirk who are mourning his assassination are reflecting on his legacy and how it can be preserved.
“He was a rare talent in that he went into the literal lion’s den on a regular basis,” Christopher Jackson told Fox News Digital Sunday outside the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz.
“He made it his life purpose to go into the lion’s den and civilly, in a time when a lot of it is not civil, to civilly have conversation with the other side, especially the impressionable young that are taught the complete opposite of what he felt and somehow in a relatively small amount of time turned it into where it was a crowd that was there to bash on him to where the crowd was mostly there to see him,” Jackson added.
As mourners walked up to the Turning Point USA headquarters to pay their respects, they were greeted by a woman who owns a pop-up florist business and brought donated roses, baby’s breath, and other flowers so that each person could make their own bouquet in memory of Kirk.
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“My brother donated 300, and then I allowed other people to give because in giving we receive,” Terrie Overstreet, who runs The Flower Bus by Terrie, told Fox News Digital.
She said that her family donated flowers so that she could fill her blue and white 1964 Vintage Volkswagen bus with donated flowers for people to make bouquets.
“So I opened that up to the rest of my family and to my boyfriend’s family and that they completed my goal, which was to fill the bus and so the bus is filled with family,” Overstreet added. “And yeah, and I’d love to be able to say these are blossoms of blessings for Charlie.”
Mourners from across the country visited Kirk’s headquarters to pay their respects, and leave flowers, notes, candles, and other mementos of appreciation to honor the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, who was shot and killed Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University during his American Comeback Tour.
Even though Kirk was one of the youngest conservative leaders in the country, he had quickly become a defining influence in the movement and was a crucial figure in President Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. He founded Turning Point USA in 2012 as an 18-year-old with encouragement from Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery.
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The key to having Kirk’s legacy live on is to live how he lived, Jackson said.
“I’m just hoping I feel like more and more people are learning to not be silent,” Jackson said. “And I think that’s the answer to not be pushovers and to speak our mind and stand for what we believe like he did. And if anything I feel like that’s the lasting legacy he left was to stand up for what you believe and not sheepishly let a lot of the ideology that the left espouses become the norm.”
Ryan Elwood, who also spent time outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters to pay tribute, said that Kirk was a fair and honest communicator.
“He really brought to light truth, justice, and facts, and that was one of the big things that the world needs to hear is the facts and the truth behind the issues, and once you have the facts, the truth, you should be able to make your own opinion from there,” Elwood said. “And I think he was very good about keeping it as unbiased as possible and making people come to their own conclusions.”
Joel Freda told Fox News Digital that those who believed in Kirk’s mission must make it theirs in order for his legacy to endure.
“I think it’s gonna take everybody that ever was involved with TPUSA, it’s gonna take people that ever watched him,” Freda said. “And he’s not somebody that is replaceable… It’s going to take a lot of people. And it’s a massive effort. But I think he, through the work that he did for – what was it, 13 years when he started – he was like 18, 17. He built that foundation so that now it’s there, the structure’s already there for people to do that.”
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