Crowds gather at Utah Valley University to pay respects at Charlie Kirk memorial

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Crowds gathered Saturday at Utah Valley University to honor Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist.
Kirk was shot during a speech at UVU; suspected gunman Tyler Robinson, 22, is in police custody.
Kirk's funeral is scheduled for Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

OREM – As plans move forward for funeral services for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, people have been gathering at a makeshift memorial on campus to pay their respects.

A steady stream of people stopped at the memorial Saturday, which is set up along the street near the university's main entrance. It includes flags, notes, pictures and other mementos to honor Kirk.

"There's a special spirit here," said Brenna Jenkins, a student at nearby Brigham Young University who saw the crowds gathering as she drove by Saturday afternoon. "I just had to stop and come and pay my respects."

Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at UVU on Wednesday when he was hit with a single bullet. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, 22, is in jail and set to appear in court next week.

Jenkins was shaken by what happened. She said she had planned to hear Kirk speak at UVU but changed her plans at the last minute.

"Knowing that I would have been here with my son – knowing that I would have had to run for my life with my child – I don't know if that's trauma that I'd be able to process," Jenkins said tearfully. "I feel so badly that 3,000 students experienced that."

Kelly Cahoon looks at a memorial honoring Charlie Kirk with her children on the campus of Utah Valley University, Saturday. (Photo: Istvan Bartos, KSL-TV)

Kelly Cahoon also stopped by the memorial Saturday afternoon with her husband and children while visiting from Arizona. Cahoon, who graduated from UVU, wiped away tears as she sat quietly looking at the flags and pictures honoring Kirk.

"To have something so sad happen, I feel like I wanted to just come and see and feel and bring my kids with me," said Cahoon. "It feels like something kind of changed when he died."

As people mourned at the memorial, chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team consoled and prayed with them.

UVU has been closed since the shooting, and crime scene tape still surrounded part of the campus on Saturday. The university is set to reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

Meanwhile, Kirk's funeral is scheduled to take place Sunday, Sept. 21, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Jenkins said she was grateful the memorial had been set up and hoped something positive would come from Kirk's death.

"I hope that we can come to an understanding that we're all children of God and that we need to be united. We're Americans. We're brothers, we're sisters," she said. "We're together in this."

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