Mourners Pack Franklin Square in Memory of Charlie Kirk

More than 1,000 people gathered on Franklin's public square on Sunday to mourn the assassination of star right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk at the “Pray Up, Stand Up and Speak Up” event, where speakers called for an end to political violence and a national reaffirmation of America as a Christian nation.

On September 10, 31-year-old Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed in front of more than 3,000 people at Utah Valley University during The American Comeback Tour, where he publicly debated students on political and social topics.

Two days later, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested, and while few details have been made public, prosecutors allege that the shooter confessed to his romantic partner that he killed Kirk because Kirk was “spreading hate.” He was charged with seven criminal counts, including aggravated murder, on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Kirk’s death sent shockwaves across American society, inflaming partisan political tensions and renewing concerns over escalating political violence, in what University of Chicago professor and political violence expert Robert Pape called “a watershed moment” and “the era of violent populism in America.”

While online rhetoric and reactions have included some calls for retribution, Franklin’s event was peaceful and focused on a shared Christian faith of many of its attendees. It included numerous prayers and worship songs, with calls for unity around God.

The gathering featured themes of Christian Nationalism, including descriptions of a state of “spiritual warfare” within American society, with one speaker urging attendees to “go be a megaphone for the kingdom of God.”

Another speaker urged prayer for Kirk’s killer, while another advocated for dialogue in this moment of uncertainty, quoting Kirk’s own words, “When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts.”

“We live in an evil world today, and I don’t think that’s any secret, but we thought we would get together and have some fun tonight and actually try to bring some people together, bring Franklin together, [bring] Williamson County together in unity and in love and encouragement,” organizer Brian Russell said.

Williamson County Commissioner Lisa Lenox told the crowd that she was “between angry and sad” following the news of Kirk’s killing.

“I'm mourning someone I never met, didn't know, but I watched him a lot on social media, and I said, so we need to do something to bring unity and love and prayer, and we need to just love on each other, and we also need to carry his torch forward,” Lenox said. “We're in a battle for Christianity, and we need to draw closer to God and help continue his mission, to help young people to understand the blessings they have.”

While the event was sparked by Kirk's death, speakers also acknowledged the fatal Evergreen High School shooting, which happened in Colorado on the same day as Kirk's death, as well as the August 22 murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, and the June assassination of Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

Ashton Hanson, president of the Williamson County Turning Point USA chapter and daughter of former Franklin mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson, spoke of her experience founding the chapter, opening her remarks with a quote from Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” one of the biggest hits from the band's anti-fascist 2004 album American Idiot.

“My entire career path now began because of the doors this organization has opened, and none of this would have been possible without Charlie's vision and his faith in the next generation,” Hanson said.

Other speakers included 7th Congressional District candidate and Republican state Rep. Jody Barrett, gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Monty Fritts, and state senate candidate Gary Humble.

Kirk was scheduled to appear at Murfreesboro’s World Outreach Church this weekend for its Culture and Christianity Conference.

Legacy and Political Violence

Kirk was and remains an undoubtedly divisive figure, labeled by his critics as a racist, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ provocateur. His supporters see him as a faithful conservative Christian culture warrior who was vital in helping to re-elect President Trump. Many of those supporters believe that Kirk remains under attack by a vocal minority of people who have either expressed indifference to or openly mocked or celebrated his death.

As pundits debate whether or not Kirk was practicing politics correctly, many supporters see him as one young vigil speaker described, “the first Christian public martyr that my generation has seen in America.”

While Kirk’s killing has reignited debates over free speech, it has also fueled ongoing and evolving actions by the Trump administration to target left-wing activists and organizations, who they allege are undermining public safety and national unity.

His death also sparked a variety of reactions from elected officials, political commentators and media personalities, with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders calling for unity. In contrast, when President Trump was asked in a Fox News interview about mending the political and social divide, he acknowledged that he "couldn’t care less.”

Trump plans to posthumously award Kirk with the ​Presidential Medal of Freedom, while 5th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles introduced legislation to award him with the Congressional Gold Medal. In the Tennessee House, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and Rep. Lee Reeves issued a proclamation honoring Kirk’s life.

Political violence is not new in the United States, but has seen a notable resurgence over recent decades, from the 2011 mass shooting that injured Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and the 2017 shooting of Republican congressman Steve Scalise.

More recent examples include the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the 2022 attack on Democratic then-U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and two assassination attempts on Trump in 2024. In August, a Murfreesboro woman was arrested for threatening to kill Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

Numerous private citizens have also been criticized by Republican politicians and activists for expressing their views on Kirk’s beliefs and his death. People across the country have been fired for their public statements, including some staff members at Middle Tennessee State University, Austin Peay State University and Cumberland University, while a Franklin High School teacher was suspended pending the results of an internal Williamson County Schools investigation.

“Expressions that glorify or trivialize violence, especially in moments of a national tragedy, are inappropriate and unacceptable,” WCS said in a statement, with Superintendent Jason Golden telling WCS staff that “words matter.”

“Please recognize that this is a painful time for so many people, and professional teachers need to lead the way in empathy, compassion and decency in how we communicate,” Golden said in part. “Think about how your word choice might affect others in this difficult national time, and as always, treat others how you would like to be treated.”