Trump hails Charlie Kirk as ‘Martyr for American freedom’ at memorial
At the memorial event for slain US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, President Donald Trump and his supporters celebrated the 31-year-old’s life with language steeped in religious fervour.
“He’s a martyr now for American freedom,” Trump declared of Kirk, who was killed on Tuesday, September 10, 2025, at a Utah university campus.
Trump was the final speaker to address nearly 65,000 people at the gathering, held in a stadium in Arizona, where mourners travelled from far and wide to pay their respects.
“I look at him as a Christ martyr, definitely,” said Monica Mirelez, a 44-year-old nurse who drove more than 12 hours from Texas to attend. She said she had watched Kirk’s videos on Instagram every day.
“He was a perfect example of what we should be doing as Christians, we should be bold and speak up,” she added. “It’s so sad that he was silenced like this. It feels like losing a brother.”
The crowd was adorned in red, white, and blue, greeting Trump and other speakers with chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Christian rock songs filled the intervals between speeches, with many in the audience singing along.
– ‘Biblical principles’ –
Mirelez said she supported Kirk as a fellow Christian, believing “his political views were basically backed up by the Bible.”
“He stood up for biblical principles, against the LGBTQ community… That brought him a lot of hate from many people, but I think he was misunderstood,” she said.
Another attendee, 15-year-old high school student Nick Chisholm, said he was shocked by the reaction of some classmates to Kirk’s death.
“They laughed, they said he deserved it,” Chisholm recounted. “Whatever he said, he didn’t deserve to be killed for speaking his opinion and his beliefs.”
Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller told the crowd: “You have no idea the dragon you have awakened. You have no idea how determined we will be to save this civilisation, to save the West.”
– ‘We’re all Charlie Kirk now’ –
Welsley Inglis, a 61-year-old mechanical engineer from California, said he believed the shooter was influenced by the rival Democratic Party.
“They’re the ones that have really pushed blending the genders, no male, no female, transgender, get rid of that dichotomy,” he argued.
He praised Kirk for “bringing the youth back to the church and changing their minds.”
“When I was a child, the churches were filled. By the time I became an adult, churches were empty,” he said, adding that he viewed the Trump administration’s threats to crack down on left-wing activists accused of fuelling violence as a sign of what lay ahead.
“We can’t just crack down on dissent, there would have to be proof, it has to be done by the books… But personally, I think they have proof, it just hasn’t been released yet,” Inglis claimed.
Another supporter, Jeremy Schlotman, a 21-year-old practising Catholic who recently joined Kirk’s organisation Turning Point USA, said he forgave the alleged killer — echoing the words of Kirk’s widow Erika during her own speech.
“I think that’s the best response to what the shooter did,” Schlotman said. “Kill one, and a thousand more will rise. That’s what’s happening — the shooter just created a generation of new Charlies. We’re all Charlie Kirk now.”
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