The crowd held candles while singing "Amazing Grace" to mourn Kirk. Photo by Rachel Hoppe
About 150 people gathered in Round Lake Park for a vigil to mourn the death of political commentator Charlie Kirk on Wednesday night, a week after Kirk was shot in Utah.
Kirk founded the organization Turning Point USA, which advocated for conservative politics in American high schools and universities. He was shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University.
Kirk’s murder was preceded by the Annunciation shooting in Minneapolis in August and the assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman in her home in June.
Nik Schroeder, the vigil’s organizer, said the purpose of the evening’s event was to give people a space to pray and grieve. Schroeder began planning the vigil last Friday, as he said he was still grieving the school shooting at Annunciation, a Catholic school in Minneapolis, last month.
“I was grieving Annunciation still. I couldn’t listen to music anymore, enjoy certain foods I liked after that incident,” Schroeder said. “And then when it happened to Charlie, it just shattered us. I couldn’t tolerate inaction anymore.”
Nik Schroeder began organizing the vigil last Friday. Photo by Rachel Hoppe
Schroeder said he reached out to Paul Jackson, the chair of the Eden Prairie and Minnetonka Republicans, to organize the vigil. Eden Prairie and Minnetonka Republicans sponsored the event.
The event came together quickly, Schroeder said, and many people were eager to help bring it to fruition.
Jackson said the Eden Prairie and Minnetonka Republicans informed its members via text and email that the vigil was happening.
Four speakers, most of whom were religious figures, led attendees in prayer and shared their thoughts about Kirk’s death. Suzanne Hoy, a Minneapolis-based musician, sang “God Bless America” and “Amazing Grace”.
Organizers passed out candles for the crowd to light as Hoy led them in singing “Amazing Grace.”
Speakers included Father Paul Kammen of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Rosemount, Pastor Logan Ketterling of River Valley Church in Minnetonka, Dr. Scott Jensen and Jeff Cavins, a nationally known public speaker on the Catholic faith.
About 150 people gathered at Round Lake Park to mourn Kirk’s death. Photo by Rachel Hoppe
Miranda Stubbs, who attended the vigil, said she was in shock when she heard about Kirk’s death and felt the need to pray with her community.
“I just felt like we needed to come together as a community to pray, and people are looking to the left and to the right, and they’re looking to politics, and they felt like we just need to look to God, because I think that’s the only thing that’s going to bring us all together,” Stubbs said.
Pedro Vazquez, who attended the vigil, said Kirk greatly influenced his worldview. Finding out about his death had a deep effect on him.
“When a celebrity dies, you’re like, ‘OK,’” Vazquez said. “It was different. This was different.”
Another vigil attendee, Coralee Wilcox, said the event represented unity after Kirk’s murder.
“There was soul, unity and heavy hearts, not as heavy because it’s been the whole week, but a unity, reverence and just to be very quiet,” Wilcox said. “I was real impressed with it.”
Joan Locke said she went to the vigil because she was heartbroken in the wake of Kirk’s death. She wanted to turn to church and to pray so she could grieve.
“I was heartbroken, in light of what happened to Charlie Kirk,” Locke said. “I never met him, but I followed him on social media. Our world’s really a mess.”
Other vigils were held across the Twin Cities on Wednesday night, including one in Delano.
Kirk was set to speak at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities next Monday. His organization, Turning Point USA, announced the event will still be held after his passing and Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator for The Daily Wire, will host.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct title for Jeff Cavins.