Turning Point members host vigil in wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death

On Wednesday, Sept. 10, a singular shot found its way onto the screens of millions of college students across America – including at Miami University. Charlie Kirk, right-wing activist and loyalist to President Donald Trump, was assassinated in front of a crowd of about 3,000 college students at Utah Valley University, who gathered to watch him debate young voters as part of his “Prove Me Wrong” series on the The American Comeback Tour.

The assassination was caught on phone cameras, and graphic videos of Kirk falling backwards from the impact of the shot began circulating on social media within an hour of the shooting.

Kirk, founder of the right-wing youth activist organization Turning Point USA, gained popularity by hosting events at college campuses across the country and inviting students to debate him on prominent political issues.

“I go around to universities and have challenging conversations,” Kirk said during one of his Prove Me Wrong exchanges.

“But, why?” a woman who approached Kirk asked.

“Because that’s what is so important to our country,” Kirk responded, “is to find our disagreements, respectfully, because when people stop talking, that’s when violence happens.”

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

At Miami, about 50 students gathered at the seal at 8:15 p.m. – just hours after Kirk was shot – to honor his memory and his commitment to reviving the conservative movement on college campuses around the country. Cooper LeMaster, president of Miami’s Turning Point chapter, organized the event alongside his brother and vice president of the organization, Barrett LeMaster.

The event included prayers, sermons and speeches by attendees. Barrett and Cooper said the event was hosted as a prayer vigil for Kirk and his family. The pair posted about the vigil on social media and spread the word through members of both Turning Point and other organizations on campus, including Miami’s College Republicans chapter.

“Conservative organizations on campus all work very closely, because there’s not that many on campus,” said Rob Tandy, director of events for College Republicans. “So word about [the vigil] just got out naturally, through the circles we’re all in.”

Cooper, a junior supply chain management major, founded Miami’s Turning Point chapter last spring, after it had gone inactive years prior. In the fall, he selected first-year accounting major Barrett to serve as vice president of the organization. The organization has 28 registered members on the Hub.

Barrett had met Kirk twice before, both times at events hosted by Turning Point. He first met Kirk in December 2024 at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, and again at the Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida this past July.

“He’s the kind of guy who always wanted your voice to feel heard before putting his input out there,” Barrett said. “He wanted to be hands-on with the [conservative] movement and to really understand where people were coming from.”

Politicians on both sides of the aisle took to social media on Wednesday night to speak out against political violence. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered flags to be lowered across the state following the death of Kirk.

“Fran and I are shocked and saddened by the shooting of Charlie Kirk in Utah today” DeWine wrote on X. “Political violence is completely unacceptable anywhere and at any time. We are praying [for] Charlie and his family.”

United States Rep. Greg Landsman, Democrat of Ohio’s 1st District, joined many of his fellow congress members in posting on X last night about Kirk’s death.

“This is absolutely horrible,” Landsman wrote. “We do not harm people we disagree with. This violence has no place in America. I am praying for him and his family.”

On campus, students outside of conservative organizations have voiced their support for Kirk and his family. Alpha Delta Phi, Miami’s oldest fraternity on campus, hung a banner outside of its chapter house on South Campus Avenue that says, “We Stand with Charlie.”

Cooper said this kind of political violence will call attention to the importance of free speech.

“I think this opened up a lot of people’s eyes,” Cooper said. “He’s not an elected official. He is just a person who speaks out on the constitutional rights that every American is granted.”

patelou@miamioh.edu

@OliviaPatel555