A vigil for conservative political activist
Charlie Kirk was held on Southern Utah University’s campus following his assassination on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
People from the community gathered together to honor the life and legacy of Kirk through song, prayer and discussion.
The event was hosted by Turning Point USA and the Iron County GOP to help those present find healing and feel a sense of togetherness.
“We see the bad going on in the world and I hope we can turn this tragedy into something good and engage people and create more of a community where people get together and have healthy dialogue,” said Mari Eddy, Chair of the Iron County GOP and vigil organizer.
During the meeting, SUU student Austin Renstrom, invited the crowd to sing the national anthem together. With the American flag raised next to him, Renstrom started to sing and everyone followed.
“Everyone was standing there waiting for something to happen and I just thought back to Charlie. He stood up for what he believed in and didn’t care if it was popular, so I thought it’s not hard for me to be brave and go up and tell them we should sing the Star Spangled Banner,” said Renstrom. “That’s what I believe in and it was super beautiful. I think it touched the lives of many people.”
The vigil provided candles as well as various resources in Cedar City for people to turn to, one of them being Cedar City’s Turning Point USA chapter. Chapter member Tanner Moss reflected on how the death of Kirk might affect the future of America.
“I think it’ll wake up a lot of Americans to what’s plaguing the country and bring a lot of people together,” said Moss. “It’ll bring an inside look on the violent rhetoric that’s displayed in politics today, I hope there’s a literal turning point from it.”
For more information about Turning Point USA Cedar City, visit their Instagram page.
Author: Brooklyn Beard
Photographers: Gannon Lovisa and Brooklyn Beard
Editor: Fanny Felixine
