Thousands turn out to mourn Charlie Kirk in Arizona

Charlie Kirk was honored Sunday as a family-first, God-fearing “biblical prophet,” bestowed with compassion, courage and an unyielding desire to promote truth and freedom as President Trump and tens of thousands of admirers turned out to pay tribute to him and vowed to expand his legacy.

The memorial also served as a chance for his friends, family and conservative leaders to herald Mr. Kirk’s death as a turning point in American history in which the forces of good immortalize him by rising to confront and triumph over the forces of evil.

Describing Mr. Kirk as “our greatest evangelist for American liberty,” Mr. Trump said he is a “martyr now for American freedom.”

“Less than two weeks ago, our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times, a giant of his generation, and above all, a devoted father, husband, son, Christian and patriot,” Mr. Trump said.

“Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth that was in his heart. He was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice, for God, country, for reason, and for common sense,” the president said.

“I know I speak for everyone here today when I say none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history,” he said. “Because while Charlie has been reunited with his Creator in heaven, his voice on earth will echo through the generations and his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America’s greatest patriots.”

Wiping away tears, Mr. Kirk’s widow, Erika, leaned into her faith. She told the audience that she forgives Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old who has been charged with killing her husband 11 days earlier at Utah Valley University.

“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the west, the young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live,” she said. “My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life.”

“On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ That man, that young man, I forgive him,” she said, sparking a standing ovation from the crowd.

“I forgive him because it is what Christ did and what Charlie would do,” Mrs. Kirk said.

“The answer to hate is not hate, the answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us,” she said.

Turning Point USA Spokesperson Andrew Kolvet, who produced “The Charlie Kirk Show,” said Mr. Kirk was a biblical prophet multiple times in his speech.

“I see it now clearly that Charlie Kirk was a prophet — not the fortune-telling kind that could predict the future, but the biblical kind,” Mr. Kolvet said. “He confronted evil and proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved.”

Mr. Kirk was one of the brightest figures in a generation of Christian conservative activists who came of age in the internet era.

The 31-year-old father of two young daughters, Mr. Kirk was a wunderkind who wore his faith on his sleeve, doggedly put an onus on open debate, and muscled his way past established figures and the mainstream media into the upper echelons of U.S. politics.

His influence was on display as 73,000 people packed into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, and thousands more watched from an overflow area in the nearby Desert Diamond Arena.

The Department of Homeland Security assigned it the higher security designation, typically reserved for events such as the Super Bowl, giving it all the trappings of a state funeral.

Most of the Trump Cabinet was in attendance, and several members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, addressed the crowd.

Still, the gathering often had more of a feel of a religious revival than a political rally.

“Charlie looked at politics as an on-ramp to Jesus,” said Rob McCoy, Mr. Kirk’s pastor. “He knew if he could get all of you rowing in the streams of liberty, you would come to its source, and that is the Lord.”

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson echoed Mr. Trump’s sentiment, calling Mr. Kirk a “Christian evangelist.”

“He was bringing the Gospel to the country,” Mr. Carlson said. “He was doing the thing that the people in charge hate most, which is calling for them to repent.”

Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn announced that the conservative liberal arts college would honor Mr. Kirk, who never graduated from college, with an honorary doctorate.

At 18, Mr. Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA, a youth organization focused on delivering the conservative gospel on college campuses.

The group blossomed into a significant political force.

Mr. Kirk and Turning Point USA are credited with bringing fresh faces under the conservative tent and overseeing a ballot-chasing operation that helped send Mr. Trump back to the Oval Office.

“He transformed the face of conservatism in our own time, and in doing so, he changed the course of American history for rising generations across the country,” Vice President J.D. Vance said. “Charlie exemplified kindness, courage and a commitment to open debate.”

As the group’s new CEO, Mrs. Kirk said she will continue to carry out the group’s mission and plans to make it “10 times greater through the power of his memory.”

Mr. Kirk was killed by a sniper on the first stop of Turning Point USA’s “American Comeback Tour” while debating college students at Utah Valley University.

Mrs. Kirk promised the campus events would continue. She said “no assassin” would prevent the group from advocating for the First Amendment.

With an outpouring of support for Mr. Kirk, people around the globe have held memorials and vigils in his honor.

For others, the horrific assassination was their first introduction to Mr. Kirk and his dogged advocacy for Christian values and engaging in open debate on liberal-dominated college campuses, where he often was not wanted.

Donald Trump Jr. said he witnessed firsthand Mr. Kirk’s bravery when state police told him at a University of Michigan event that left-wing activists’ threats meant they could no longer guarantee his safety.

“That sounded like a great reason to pack it up and head out, but it was one of the many times that I would agree with Charlie, who said, ‘No way, we are going out there anyway,’” the president’s son said.

“Charlie led the way. His message was clear then, and his message is clever now: We won’t back down. We won’t be intimidated,” he said.

“If we are truly going to honor Charlie properly, his loss cannot be the end of the story; his legacy must be that when they took his life, a million more Charlies stepped up to fill the void,” the president’s son said. “We are all Charlie!”

Stephen Miller, a senior Trump adviser, said the day Mr. Kirk died, “the angels wept, but those tears have turned into fire in our hearts.”

“You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk; you have made him immortal,” Mr. Miller said. “You have immortalized Charlie Kirk, and now millions will carry on his legacy, and we will devote the rest of our lives to finishing the causes for which Charlie gave his last measure of devotion.”