Charlie Kirk mourners declare spiritual war at tearful DC vigil: 'Good versus evil'
Thousands of mourners, including White House cabinet officials and more than 85 members of Congress, packed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to capacity on Sunday to pay their respects to Charlie Kirk.
The event featured high-profile speakers that included House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, as well as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., all of whom emphasized Kirk's outspoken Christian faith.
Attendees who spoke to The Christian Post said the late conservative political activist, who was assassinated last week in Utah by a 22-year-old who reportedly lived with a trans-identified partner and harbored leftist political views, has shown the need to continue Kirk's strong but peaceful legacy.
'Good versus evil'
An orderly line of hundreds had already begun wrapping its way throughout the courtyard of the Kennedy Center more than an hour before the event began, despite short notice regarding the location that had heavy police presence.
"It's just absolutely incredible," said Hilary Jackson, the chapter chair of Moms For Liberty in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, who traveled more than five hours from the Cleveland area to attend the vigil as soon as she learned where it was.
Dressed in a shirt she made that was emblazoned in bold letters with the word "freedom" to resemble that which Kirk wore when he was shot, Jackson told CP she was hoping to meet Kirk in person at the Moms for Liberty National Summit in October.
She suggested Kirk's death potentially marks a turning point in a larger spiritual battle in which the dividing lines are becoming increasingly unmistakable.
"I think that there is a revival happening in this country, where we are clearly seeing not a difference of Right or Left, or red or blue, but a difference between good and evil," she said as nearby protesters screeched profane messages against President Donald Trump through a megaphone.
"I think for the first time in a long time, people are actually recognizing that, and they are starting to be able to distinguish the difference between good and evil, and not hiding behind a party to justify certain actions."
Dawn Erckenbrack, whose daughters recently graduated college, told CP that Kirk's legacy was multi-generational. She noted she came to honor Kirk because of "the influence he's had on young people and people my age as well."
She believes many of those on the Left who have openly celebrated Kirk's assassination "really don't understand what he was all about." She said Kirk never personally retaliated against those who attacked or hated him.
"I really wonder the depth to which they've watched his videos," she said. "He was never rude to anyone. He was always courteous. He never attacked the person."
'A dark shadow'
Trevor McKay, a Christian man at the vigil in his early 20s, told CP he admired Kirk because he was "unafraid and unashamed of who he was," which is a trait he hopes will inspire other young men. He noted he has personally observed that many of them have been making a rightward shift.
"I think everyone in the conservative movement is sort of feeling the same right now," he said of Kirk's death. "It's important to be together, come out and show that we're not afraid, despite this sort of domestic terrorism that's coming from the Left. We're not afraid to do what Kirk was doing and continue his legacy."
Kirk's vigil came weeks after the Kennedy Center hosted the premiere of "The Revival Generation," a documentary that highlighted the large Christian revival movements on college campuses in recent years amid what some perceive as a growing spiritual hunger among young men especially.
The premiere took place the same day a 23-year-old trans-identifying man murdered Catholic children as they prayed at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
During his eulogy at the vigil, Speaker Johnson suggested that Kirk's murder has continued to expose a gathering spiritual darkness that has rattled even those in power.
"It's as if a dark shadow was cast over our country, and certainly here, even on Capitol Hill, the leaders of the nation have been shaken, as have university students and college students and young people all across the country," he said. "It's as if the ground was shifted beneath us."