Attendees Highlight Charlie Kirk’s Legacy of Faith at Packed Vigil

KENNEDY CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C. — Around 2,000 supporters gathered in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall Sunday night in memory of Charlie Kirk, days after he was assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. At least 85 members of Congress were in attendance, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-LA, as well as other government officials who addressed the audience in honor of Kirk. 

Throughout the event, speakers remarked on the motivation that Kirk’s faith played in his work. “Charlie had such faith and such belief and he wanted to share that truth with others. And what he was trying to do is pull people back from the abyss; not just to save a country but to save souls,” Speaker Johnson said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL, and Congressman Andy Biggs, R-AZ, all spoke, along with emcee Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman.

The Federalist attended the event and interviewed a number of individuals present at the event. From D.C. interns to young families to seniors, it was clear that the desire to mourn Kirk and support his movement is wide and intergenerational. Kirk’s influence continues to spread, with Executive Producer of The Charlie Kirk Show Andrew Kolvet reporting that Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) received 32,000 requests to start chapters in a 48-hour period.

Kirk is known for inviting college students into debate over conservative principles, sharing the gospel openly and encouraging young adults to embrace marriage and family. Turning Point USA advocates conservative principles on high school and college campuses. Kirk started TPUSA when he was 18, but the organization burgeoned in size and influence over the years. Speakers at the vigil credited Kirk and TPUSA as key to President Trump’s victory in 2024.

While in college, Mycayla Stuke was vice president of a Turning Point USA chapter at Oklahoma City University. Her sister, the chapter’s president, reached out to TPUSA after facing discrimination for her beliefs on campus, Stuke told The Federalist. “I only met Charlie Kirk one time … but it’s like someone in our family passed away for all of us, and it’s been really sad.”

“It’s been very disheartening, but at the same time encouraging, knowing that he’s with the Lord and we just continue to fight and proclaim the truth and proclaim Jesus,” Stuke said. She believes Kirk’s death feels so personal because of “the spiritual aspect of it. I do believe he was a martyr for the Christian faith.”

“The Scripture calls it ‘all creation is groaning,” Stuke explained. “I think we truly felt it when we saw the video, or when we learned that he passed … everyone knows Jesus is coming back. “

Stuke looked ahead to what she expected for the conservative movement, particularly for youth. “I think for one thing, it’s going to become a whole lot more about Jesus … I think it’s just going to activate so many more people.”

David Messinger, a Washington, D.C. intern who described Charlie Kirk as many young people’s “gateway drug to conservatism” said he expects that “God and faith is going to play a big role in bringing people to more conservatism.”

Jeremiah Miller of Manassas, Virginia and his wife brought their two young children to the vigil. “Charlie touched a generation,” Miller told The Federalist, “he activated them.”

For Miller, Kirk’s assassination hit personally. “I don’t ever remember being this sad or angry at the death of somebody I’ve never met.”

He believes Charlie Kirk brought clarity of language for conservatives, and focused on the substantive issues they face from leftist ideology. “If you use the word that was most effective, which is ‘demonic,’ you were looked at like a kook 10 years ago,” Miller said. “Charlie and the crew he put together moved that into the cultural zeitgeist. And now we have a word for the kind of evil that we’re facing.”

Kirk frequently shared about his faith, and explained the gospel to those he interacted with, even in the event at which he was killed.

Miller also acknowledged the spiritual significance of Kirk’s message. “When he incorporated faith into what it was that he was doing, we all of a sudden had more effective weapons to start winning this war and taking our country back,” Miller said.

“Our church was packed to the gills. I’ve never seen it as packed as it was this morning. It was busier than Christmas.” Miller said a family member reported the same in her church in New Hampshire.

Conservative podcaster Isabel Brown pointed out a similar trend on Fox and Friends, describing thousands of comments on social media from people saying they would be attending church inspired by Charlie Kirk. “That truly is what this revival is going to look like, and how Charlie’s legacy will be cemented in this next generation,” Brown said.

Catherine Gripp is a graduate of Arizona Christian University where she earned a degree in communication and a minor in political science. She writes for The Federalist as a reporting intern.