Charlie Kirk memorial service set to take place in Arizona stadium

A memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk will be held on 21 September at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, a venue which can seat more than 60,000 people.

Turning Point USA, the organisation Kirk co-founded, made the announcement on social media, inviting the public to celebrate his “remarkable life and enduring legacy”.

Kirk, 31, was shot dead on Wednesday during an open-air speaking event in Utah. His suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, was arrested on Thursday night after surrendering to police.

President Donald Trump is expected to attend the memorial service, along with Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Before departing for Israel on Saturday, Rubio said he would be back in time for Kirk’s memorial and remembered him as a “great young man”.

“I admired all the stuff he said and did on campuses, and again, an enormous influence on young people, primarily,” he said.

Arizona marks an important place for Kirk – it’s the location of Turning Point USA’s headquarters and where he and his wife lived with their two children before his death.

Earlier on Saturday, Kirk’s widow, Erika, made her first public remarks after her husband’s death, pledging to keep his legacy alive.

In a livestream broadcast from Turning Point USA’s headquarters, Mrs Kirk, 36, addressed what she called the “evil doers” responsible for her husband’s death.

“You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry,” she said.

“They should all know this: if you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world.”

In a later Instagram post, Mrs Kirk reiterated those comments and posted videos and photos of her sitting over her husband’s open casket and kissing his hand.

Kirk was shot while hosting one of his signature Prove Me Wrong debates at Utah Valley University while taking a question about gun violence and transgender people in the US.

Tyler Robinson was taken into custody on 12 September and is being held at Utah County Jail without bail, where he is on special watch to determine if he is a risk to himself or others, police told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

He is expected to make his first court appearance next week, where he will also be formally charged.

Kirk was a controversial figure in US political discourse and had been hailed by many as the future of American conservatism with a talent for energising young conservatives^[1].

By mobilising the youth vote, he was an instrumental organiser in Trump’s Maga coalition and helped return him to the White House for a second term.

After Kirk’s death, Trump announced that he will award him a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian honour – calling him a “giant of his generation and a champion of liberty”.