Charlie Kirk’s assassination a year ago Thursday is being marked with memorials and vigils in the United States and abroad.
Memorials and vigils marking the first anniversary of the conservative activist’s Sept. 10, 2025, killing are being held from Utah and Arizona to New York and overseas, while Utah Valley University, where Kirk was fatally shot, closed its campus for a day of healing, service, and connection.
Kirk, 31, was speaking before thousands of people at an outdoor event at the Orem, Utah, campus when he was shot.
His death prompted tributes from political leaders and renewed discussion about political violence.
President Donald Trump, speaking Wednesday at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, remembered Kirk as a friend and conservative voice.
“Exactly one year ago tomorrow,” Trump said, Kirk was assassinated “because Charlie Kirk spoke the truth.”
Trump also acknowledged Kirk’s widow, Erika, who attended the convention.
Immediately after the assassination last year, Trump ordered American flags lowered to half-staff at the White House, federal buildings, military posts, and naval stations across the country and at U.S. facilities overseas through Sept. 14, 2025.
Trump later proclaimed Oct. 14, Kirk’s birthday, a National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk, calling on Americans to pray for “peace, truth, and justice.”
Kirk was also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
A year later, the case against the man accused of killing Kirk remains unresolved.
Tyler Robinson has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including aggravated murder. A judge has ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for Robinson to stand trial, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
At Utah Valley University, officials have said the anniversary should provide students and employees with “space for reflection, service and connection.”
The university formed a committee after the assassination to develop plans for a permanent memorial.
Turning Point USA, the conservative organization Kirk co-founded, is holding its “Freedom Built to Last” memorial Thursday evening at UVU’s UCCU Center. Speakers include Glenn Beck, Christian author Frank Turek, and Turning Point officials.
Events commemorating Kirk are planned in several U.S. cities and as far away as Australia.