Charlie Kirk’s friend urges mourners to ‘go back to church’ following activist’s killing

Worldwide vigils have taken place following the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. His close friend Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, is urging mourners to remember him as he believes Kirk would have wanted. 

“I want Charlie to be remembered for his great faith because that’s how he wanted to be remembered, for his courage and his faith,” Kolvet said Sunday on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday on a Utah college campus. He leaves behind his wife Erika and two young children. 

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Much of his work focused on reviving what he saw as the traditional American family, a mission rooted in his Christian faith. 

Kolvet urged supporters to channel their grief into that same commitment. 

“If you [want to] honor Charlie today, it is Sunday… go back to church, open your Bible, pray, ask God to lead you. That’s what he wanted,” he said.

Vigils for Kirk have sprung up across the country, including at Turning Point USA campus chapters, on Capitol Hill, and even overseas. Demonstrators at a previously scheduled march in London carried pictures and banners of Kirk.

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Turning Point USA announced it will hold a public memorial for Kirk next weekend at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium. The venue can host over 70,000 people. 

Kolvet said the worldwide response since Kirk’s death reflects his message’s authenticity.

“The reason he resonated, I believe, so widely and so broadly across the world… is because he himself was good. A message sown across the world out of a place of integrity and honesty and decency,” said Kolvet. 

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“You can’t emulate that. You can fake that. And it comes through. People can see just how straightforward and honest and good he was.” 

Kolvet said the peaceful nature of the memorials have been especially meaningful to Kirk’s family, staff, and friends. 

“The people that loved him most, they’re not rioting. They’re not burning down cities or businesses. They are praying, they’re lighting candles in his honor, and they’re expressing the grief that they feel, that we all feel, in their own way,” he said.

“That’s been amazing for me to see, but also for his wife, Erika, for the entire Turning Point team, for ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ team. We’re honored by the way that the world has chosen to honor Charlie.”