On Sept. 10, 2025, conservative podcaster and Founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot at a stop on his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University (UVU) in front of a crowd of about 3,000 people.
Turning Point USA is a non-profit organization that promotes “freedom-loving American values” on over 3,500 campuses across the country. Kirk founded the organization at age 18 and, until his tragic death, had used it to counter left-leaning college groups and advocate for free speech and conservative values.
He led the “Prove Me Wrong Campaign,” in which he would ask individuals to prove one of his beliefs wrong and then debate the participant. This approach was a significant part of how he amassed over 13 million followers on Instagram and 9.5 million followers on TikTok.
His organization held a memorial event on Sept. 21 with remarks from his wife, Erika Kirk, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and several other Republican figures.
Also mourning the loss of Kirk are the UWL College Republicans, who held a candlelight vigil in his honor on Sunday, Sept. 14, at the La Crosse City Hall in partnership with the La Crosse County Republican Party. The Racquet Press spoke with the Founder and former Chair of the UWL College Republicans, Carter LeFevre-Tomlin, on the event.
LeFevre-Tomlin said they felt it was important to honor Kirk because, “he was kind of the leader and spearheaded the youth Conservative movement.”
He recalled being pleasantly surprised by how many people from the community came out to show their support. While there was no official count, he believed about 400 to 500 individuals attended.
“It was pretty somber, but it’s also pretty, you know, relieving, almost nice seeing everybody come together for common loss and really just having that remembrance period and honoring his legacy,” said LeFevre-Tomlin.
He continued, “You could almost feel how much he meant or how much his ways meant to people that went out of their way to come to [the vigil].”
During the event, prayers were offered and songs were played in Kirk’s honor, including “Taps,” a bugle call traditionally played at military funerals. LeFevre-Tomlin and fellow club members, Adam Manka and Ryan Kitzan, spoke for the crowd, then attendees were invited to say a few words as well.
LeFevre-Tomlin said he found out about the loss of Kirk the day of UWL’s Involvement Fest, right after tabling for the UWL Republicans.
“We were just tabling on our campus to promote our club and then, to see that he gets murdered on a college campus – It’s really unbelievable … Regardless of political views, I guess it’s people just like us.”
Since Kirk’s passing, the discourse surrounding free speech and gun violence has surged.
While Kirk advocated for free speech, Vice President JD Vance and other conservative politicians have been encouraging their supporters to report people to their employers for posting negative things online about Kirk, and the State Department similarly threatened to rescind visas over celebratory social media posts.
The media was not spared from these calls for action and on Sept. 17, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was pulled indefinitely due to Kimmel’s suggestion that Kirk’s shooter was a Trump supporter.
Kimmel’s show has since been restored to its previous schedule, after just under a week of being off air, with Kimmel clarifying he was not trying to joke about the situation and understood why he received the backlash he did.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said, “This administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression, not because it glorifies violence or breaks the law, but because it challenges those in power and reflects views they oppose.”
Many of the social media posts that “celebrate” his death have pointed out his previous apathy for gun violence victims, as Kirk was previously quoted saying, “I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
On the topics of free speech and gun violence, LeFevre-Tomlin said, “I don’t think people should be scared to speak their minds. I don’t think people should be worried about getting gunned down for disagreeing with somebody.”
