
Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Trent Nelson – The Salt Lake Tribune / Getty Images)
By Jack Davis September 11, 2026 at 6:06am
On the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox issued a proclamation declaring the day to be Charlie Kirk Day.
Kirk was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. Tyler Robinson, who has been accused of killing Kirk, is facing a potential death penalty trial.
“One year ago today, Charlie Kirk came to Utah to take part in a fundamental American tradition: speak openly, debate ideas, and persuade others,” Cox posted on X.
“Today, we honor Charlie’s memory by choosing a politics worthy of our country, one where we stand firmly for what we believe and reject violence,” he wrote.
One year ago today, Charlie Kirk came to Utah to take part in a fundamental American tradition: speak openly, debate ideas, and persuade others.
Today, we honor Charlie’s memory by choosing a politics worthy of our country, one where we stand firmly for what we believe and… pic.twitter.com/XMzdQPdDvG
— Governor Cox (@GovCox) September 10, 2026
“September 10, 2026, is officially Charlie Kirk Day in Utah,” he declared.
The proclamation noted that “civic courage is built through everyday acts of service, thoughtful participation in difficult conversations and a willingness to stand for principle while caring for one’s neighbors.”
It added that “moments of tragedy and intense public strain must not be allowed to deepen social division, but instead call us to respond with courage, empathy and a shared sense of purpose.”
PRAYER VIGIL: After the main memorial, a vigil formed at the exact spot on Utah Valley University grounds where Charlie Kirk last spoke.
A man from Michigan had driven across the country to carry the cross and honor his legacy. When they set the cross down, its shadow fell… pic.twitter.com/vSGmqCtqgE
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) September 11, 2026
The proclamation said that “the life and work of Charlie Kirk remind us that robust public discourse is vital to a healthy democracy.”
Writing about Kirk in a New York Post opinion piece, Josh Hammer noted, “Charlie exposed lefty logical fallacies and shattered socialist shibboleths, but he always did so with poise, grace and a winsome smile on his face.”
“A society that cannot abide polite conversations about the pressing issues of the day is a society that cannot endure. That’s especially true when the faction of society most unwilling to abide such a conversation is its would-be future leaders — namely, university students,” he wrote.
They’re still afraid of Charlie Kirk.
Have you heard of “Kirkaversary”?
It’s a grotesque little word some on the left invented to mark the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, as if murdering a 31-year-old husband and father on a college campus is something to… pic.twitter.com/TnZiRyz4I5— Patricia 🇺🇸 (@1109Patricia) September 9, 2026
Hammer noted that Kirk’s assassination “was welcomed with glee by many on the far left. It was a grisly reminder of the leftist violent streak that goes back as far as the guillotine of revolutionary France.”
“One might have thought that this year, the 250th anniversary of that great American affirmation of the right to life as the first of all ‘self-evident’ truths, would prove an opportune time to step back from the ghoulish brink. If anything, the opposite has happened,” he wrote.
In an opinion piece for National Review titled “Charlie Kirk Died Trying to Save My Generation,” Eva Terry noted that there is one true message in the millions of remembrances flooding devices as the nation remembers Kirk’s death and Generation Z remains lost.
“The answer, I believe, is so simple: Love God and love thy neighbor as thyself,” she wrote.
“Charlie Kirk regularly spoke of Jesus Christ in his closing remarks, so I will leave you as Charlie would have,” she wrote.
“The Savior says, ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,’” she wrote.
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