President Donald Trump and top officials will headline a memorial in Arizona for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose killing has intensified U.S. political tensions and prompted a White House pledge to target left-wing “domestic terrorism.”
U.S. President Donald Trump will lead tributes Sunday at a 63,000-seat stadium in Glendale, Arizona, honoring Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative activist fatally shot on September 10 during a campus debate in Utah. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the 22-year-old suspect, who allegedly cited Kirk’s rhetoric as motivation.
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a key Trump ally among young voters, was hailed by the former president as “a martyr for truth and freedom.” Trump, joined by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other top officials, plans to designate “Antifa” a major terrorist organization.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, will address mourners, while hundreds have already laid flowers and flags outside Turning Point’s Phoenix headquarters. Critics warn of escalating efforts to silence dissent after comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show was pulled following comments on the killing. “We are deeply concerned such efforts are becoming normalized here,” said Amnesty International’s Paul O’Brien.