Kirk, founder and CEO of conservative national student organization Turning Point USA, was speaking at Utah Valley University, the first stop of his new speaking tour.
Ollie Anisfeld, who helped Kirk bring Turning Point to the UK, told The Epoch Times that there’s no doubt that Kirk’s message has been amplified since his assassination.
“I think this may well be—to use his own term—a bit of a turning point.
“It feels like one of those big moments across the world, some ways a bit like a George Floyd moment, except this time, there aren’t riots on the streets and looting and crime and murder, but there are people returning to God and faith and personal responsibility and the biblical values that shape the West.”
International offshoots of Turning Point became gathering points for supporters to mourn.
On Sept. 12, about 1,000 people gathered in London’s Whitehall for a candlelit vigil beside the Montgomery statue. The event, organized by Turning Point UK, drew a cross-section of supporters and faith leaders.
Demonstrators at a previously organized “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London also took the opportunity to honor Kirk. Amid a sea of St. George’s crosses, Union Jacks, Scottish saltires, and Welsh dragons, some marchers carried wooden crosses and sang Christian hymns, while others held placards and banners paying tribute to Kirk.
In Sydney, about 350 people gathered for a candlelit vigil in Hyde Park on Sept. 12, according to police estimates. Joel Jammal, founder of Turning Point Australia, told the crowd: “I know you feel the pain of this loss of Charlie, but it’s going to take more than one bullet to silence his message.”
Catholic advocacy group CitizenGo’s campaigns director for Africa and the United Nations, Ann Kioko, said that “Charlie Kirk’s impact was not just felt in the United States.”
“His voice echoed across the globe, including here in Africa,” she told Catholic news outlet ACI Africa on Sept. 11.
“[Kirk] fearlessly fought against abortion and spoke out against cultural imperialists who come to our continent telling us to kill our babies under the guise of progress.
“He reminded us that every human life is valuable and that our traditions, families, and faith deserve to be defended against the pressures of foreign agendas.”
Mourners lit candles and laid flowers at the vigil, coming together to pay their respects to the popular conservative at the U.S. embassies in Malta and Berlin.
World Leaders and Politicians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered one of the strongest tributes from abroad.Netanyahu said he had spoken with Kirk only weeks earlier and had invited him to visit Israel.
Argentine President Javier Milei paid tribute to Kirk in a Sept. 14 speech delivered by pre-recorded message to a rally in Madrid hosted by the Spanish political party Vox.
“I had the honor of knowing Charlie Kirk, an exceptional human being who, from his youth, dedicated himself to working against leftist indoctrination in education,” Milei said.
“But of one thing I am sure: This tragic assassination must not be a reason to surrender in the cultural battle.
“Those of us who serve the noble and just cause of the freedom of our nations are only mere instruments to make it possible. For every one of us who falls, new voices will arise to take our place.”
Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said that his government “strongly condemns all forms of political violence.”
“Mr. Kirk was a promising young leader who courageously engaged with different communities and people of differing views. He founded Turning Point USA and had publicly expressed support for Taiwan. His sudden passing is a loss for democracy.”
Lin said that he believed in the “resilience of democratic institutions, which will guide the United States through this difficult time.”
“Our deepest condolences go to the Kirk family and to the American people,“ he said. ”Charlie Kirk’s death is the result of the international hate campaign waged by the progressive-liberal left.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Polish President Karol Nawrocki also offered condolences.
Brazilian federal lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira said, “They want to silence us, but what they have achieved is to awaken us.”
“Charlie Kirk did not die in vain. And when they try to crush us, they will remember too late: they will raise a generation that will never be defeated.”
