Shouts of “We love you, Charlie” and chants of “USA” rang out Sunday night as hundreds of folks came together to light candles, pray and remember the life of Charlie Kirk.
The candlelight vigil, held at the Porter County Courthouse on a warm, late summer night, was the idea of Nate Uldricks, chairman of the Porter County Republican Party. The vigil drew at least 400 people to the south side of the courthouse square.
On Wednesday, Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative firebrand and close ally of President Donald Trump, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in what the state’s governor called a political assassination. A bipartisan outcry against political violence followed.
Kirk was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, which has a network of more than 800 campus chapters nationwide, including more than a dozen at Illinois colleges and universities. In March 2023, the nonprofit’s chapter at the University of Illinois Chicago hosted Kirk and far-right commentator Candace Owens, sparking significant protests.
Uldricks led off the memorial by thanking those in attendance who filled the south side of the Porter County Courthouse.
“I’m sorry it had to be under such circumstances. Charlie Kirk’s assassination has shocked, saddened and indeed angered many of us,” Uldricks said.
The event was mostly peaceful, though a Valparaiso woman, 54, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of battery and resisting law enforcement, according to a report from Valparaiso Police. The Post-Tribune is not identifying the woman because she has not been formally charged.
According to the report, a verbal disturbance became physical shortly before the vigil began at 6 p.m. Two witnesses told police that the woman was the aggressor, though she was lying on the ground when police arrived and, according to the report, suffered a small laceration on the back of her head and an abrasion on her elbow.
While police led the woman to an ambulance to be checked for her injuries, she reportedly told them, “I don’t care, I’ll go to jail any day for our rights. I’m not going to martyrize Charlie Kirk!”
Several officers were in the area to maintain public safety, according to Capt. Joe Hall, public information officer for Valparaiso Police.
Ricky Moore, who recently moved to Valparaiso to live closer to his daughter and her family, said at the vigil that he was one of those saddened and shocked by the death of Kirk.
Moore and his wife came to remember Kirk.
“He was such an outstanding human being. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. What a tragedy,” Moore said.
Valparaiso resident Steve Miller said he never met Kirk but had watched him online for the past four or five years.
“He showed me violence was not the way to settle a problem,” Miller said.
Miller was pleased with the turnout and tribute.
“This is to show the whole world we can hold hands,” Miller said.
Many in attendance brought their own candles to light or were provided candles, which were lit as the sun set to the west of the courthouse.
A makeshift memorial, set up outside the courthouse, featured a photo of Kirk and a sign that read, “He gave his voice for freedom, now we raise ours for him.”
The vigil ended with the saying of The Lord’s Prayer and the singing of Amazing Grace and God Bless America.
Uldricks said he first met Kirk around a campfire before the 2016 election, where both politics and growing up in the Midwest were discussed.
“He (Kirk) grew up outside of Chicago. At the time, Charlie was just getting Turning Point USA off the ground. He was humble and kind and had a fierce intellect. He also had a deep, firm conviction in his values and principles. He had a fire in his belly. He was a man of purpose,” Uldricks said.
Uldricks, and others who spoke at the vigil including Mayor Jon Costas, Porter County Treasurer Jimmy Albarran and Portage Mayor Austin Bonta, downplayed politics and emphasized the peaceful coming together of individuals and communities.
“While we are one of the big political parties, my intention with tonight’s vigil is not for it to be political, like a rally of some sort, but more so a moment of prayer and mourning and reflection. It’s important that we do this. It’s important that we come together as a community to show people, especially young people, that this is how we respond to tragedy and trauma, with reverence and solemnity, with prayer and reflection,” Uldricks said.
Uldricks said Kirk was only 23 when he met him and he was just beginning to go into college campuses and debate issues and ideas.
“Even though college should be, if nothing else, forums for open debate and discussion, many have shut down the open exchange of ideas and subtly intimidated people into groupthink. Then along came Charlie. For many college students, he was their first introduction to politics,” he said.
Kirk gave young people the confidence and courage to think a little differently and to speak out, he said.
“While they may not have known him personally, they kind of grew up with him, followed his social media. They started having families when he did. So when they witnessed his gruesome assassination, they were in total shock and horror,” he said.
Many young people are feeling very frightened right now and some are thinking they need to keep their heads low and not rock the boat.
“However, I offer you this: Do not be afraid. Bad people win when they scare good people into silence. It is not only your God-(given) right to speak up, but I would also argue your duty as a citizen,” he said.
Costas challenged those in the crowd to “build bridges and work hard to find common ground” as well as to promote civility both on their exchanges on social media and in person.
“America is not perfect, but it is a great country. We lament the violence that took the life of Charlie Kirk and so many others,” Costas said.
Post-Tribune staff and the Chicago Tribune contributed.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
