Around 250 people gathered to mourn conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as calls for war, peace and a return to religion echoed out from the Keathley University Center knoll Wednesday night.
MTSU’s chapter of Turning Point USA, alongside MTSU’s College Republicans, held the vigil a week after Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, when he was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.
“It’s been a heartbreaking and heart-wrenching past week, past month, frankly, to see shooting after shooting,” Maggie Maclean, MTSU Turning Point’s secretary, said during a brief speech.
Leaders from Turning Point and the College Republicans spoke and offered different points of view on who Kirk was to them: a hero, a martyr, an idol.
Some spoke with anger, others called for peace, but nearly every speaker used religion to carry their points home. Speakers included Jackson Swafford and Maggie MacLean from MTSU Turning Point, Ryan Roberson – the president of the College Republicans – and a 17-year-old conservative influencer named Hannah Faulkner.
Calls for peace and mourning
When it was Swafford’s turn to speak, he opened with a comparison.
“His assassination is our generation’s 9/11,” Swafford said.
Swafford spoke as if he knew Kirk, saying he never mourned for someone like he has for Kirk.
“Charlie has inspired me to be a better man, to be a more faithful follower of Jesus Christ, to work diligently, to yearn to be a husband and a father and to be a better leader,” Swafford said. “I would not be the man I am today if it weren’t for him and many others.”
Swafford attended his first TPUSA event featuring Cabot Phillips from The Daily Wire in high school. He volunteered for Charlie Kirk at the University of Tennessee and attended the Chapter Leadership Summit and Student Action Summit, where he met notable figures like Tom Homan and Kristi Noem.
“[Kirk] did not ask that we all submit to his own specific brand of political positions, but that we exercise reason and principle in the pursuit of truth as best we may find it,” Rand McKinney, former vice president of MTSU’s College Republicans, said.
Kirk had a way of bringing people together and encouraged open and honest discourse, Maggie MacLean said.
“I hope that one day there’s going to be a wake-up where we all may feel safe again, on whatever side of the political aisle you are, to speak your mind freely,” Maclean said. “I know the feelings we’re feeling are intense, [but] this needs to be a time that we come together in prayer, not only for Charlie and his family, but for our country.”
Alex Rhodes, an MTSU senior majoring in cybersecurity management, attended the event after one of the organizers invited him. Rhodes followed Kirk and conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro and said he appreciated Kirk’s role as a moderate in the conservative movement. He admired Kirk’s ability to engage in constructive debates and his vocal support for the Trump administration and conservative values.
“Charlie wasn’t killed for his political statements,” Rhodes said. “Yes, people found him inflammatory, yes, people disagreed with him, but at the end of the day, he was killed because he was a vocal supporter of the Trump administration.”
Calls for war and the traditional family unit
While the following speakers called for peace, the first speaker of the night, MTSU College Republicans President Ryan Robertson, called for people to prepare for war and hinted at future political violence.
“As this culture war accelerates, we must remember two things,” Robertson said. “The first is that Charlie Kirk will not be the last death in this national struggle … and it is quite possible that some of the people here in attendance tonight might, if not, will be future victims of left-wing violence.”
Despite politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and JD Vance attributing the assassination to “left-wing extremism,” there is no official evidence that Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a left-wing individual. He was “not affiliated” with a political party, according to The Independent.
The second thing Robertson wanted people to remember was that a culture war is now in full swing following Kirk’s death.
“The rhetoric on the left has now reached a fever pitch, and they are not willing to back down,” Robertson said. “We should not be willing to back down either.”
Hannah Faulkner, a 17-year-old conservative influencer who spoke at the vigil, said that Kirk wasn’t just assassinated; he was a martyr for Christ.
“Within two minutes of him being assassinated by that vile, egregious individual, he was sharing what he laid his life on the line for, the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Faulkner said. “Charlie Kirk’s goal wasn’t to bring people just into the conservative movement … Charlie Kirk’s goal was to bring people into the kingdom, because that is what matters.”
Organizers distributed candles to the crowd after the speeches, and the lights dimmed. Swafford played “From Sea to Shining Sea” and “Amazing Grace” on his guitar while the crowd sang along. The evening ended the way it began, with a prayer.
“It is now up to us to carry his mission forward,” said Christopher Merkel, the vice president of Turning Point. “Fourteen months ago, they showed us they were willing to kill a then-presidential candidate to stay in power. And then seven days ago, they showed us that they were willing to kill you and me for speaking in public.
“We cannot. We will not let this evil win. There’s a spiritual war that needs to be fought through prayer and petition. We must continue Charlie Kirk’s legacy.”
This story was originally published on MTSU Sidelines on September 18, 2025.
