Charlie Kirk memorial to be held in Arizona stadium
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A memorial for right-wing US influencer Charlie Kirk will be held next Sunday, in a stadium that previously hosted the 2023 Super Bowl.
The 31-year-old, who was a close ally of Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking to university students at an event in Utah.
His appearance at Utah Valley University was part of a planned tour of US college campuses.
Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, shortly before he was shot. Pic: AP
Turning Point USA, the prominent youth conservative organisation of which Mr Kirk was the president and co-founder, is holding the event at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix.
The venue is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and can hold more than 60,000 people.
Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, is being held without bail after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice charges, according to court documents.
The motivation behind the fatal shooting is still unclear, but Utah governor Spencer Cox commented that Robinson described Mr Kirk as “full of hate and spreading hate”.
Robinson is due to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday, when he is also expected to be charged, the Utah County attorney’s office said.
Tyler Robinson. Pic: Utah Governor’s Office
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Suspect’s movements before and after shooting
President Trump, who will be back in the US after his UK state visit next week, has previously said he plans to attend Mr Kirk’s funeral.
Mr Trump has said he will be posthumously awarding Mr Kirk with the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mr Kirk’s body was flown back from Salt Lake City to his home state of Arizona on Air Force Two on Thursday, with the US vice president and close friend JD Vance on board.
JD Vance helps carry the coffin of Charlie Kirk from Air Force Two in Arizona
His widow, Erika Kirk, has vowed to continue his campus tour and his radio and podcast shows.
Speaking publicly for the first time in a livestreamed video on Friday, she said: “To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die.”
“It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.”
She said she told her three-year-old daughter: “Daddy went on a work trip with Jesus.”
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Mr Kirk, who was a father of two, had millions of followers across social media.
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A makeshift memorial to Mr Kirk has been set up at Utah Valley University, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages left at the main entrance.
The university says there will be increased security when classes resume on Wednesday.
