Slain US commentator Charlie Kirk has been remembered by hundreds of people who gather in Hyde Park, Sydney, for a vigil. Photo / Getty Images
Slain US commentator Charlie Kirk has been remembered by hundreds of people who gather in Hyde Park, Sydney, for a vigil. Photo / Getty Images
Hundreds of Australians have attended a candlelight vigil to honour US conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, whose assassination at a Utah university sent shockwaves around the world.
Turning Point Australia, an offshoot of Kirk’s Turning Point group, organised the sunset vigil in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Friday, attended by up to1000 people.
The Aussie organisation’s director told the Sydney Morning Herald of plans to bring Kirk to Australia before his assassination.
Kirk, 31, was shot dead at Utah Valley University on Thursday as he hosted one of his signature open-forum campus debates.
Turning Point Australia director Joel Jammal told the crowd at the vigil that Kirk was “a great man” who inspired him.
Up to 1000 people gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park for the sunset vigil. Photo / Getty Images
Jammal told the Sydney Morning Herald there had been plans to bring Kirk and his wife Erika to Australia.
“We were looking forward to bringing him out on tour because he was widely admired for his Christian values, a family man winning a noble fight to reconnect with politics,” Jammal said.
At least 300 people attended the peaceful event on Friday night.
Another vigil will be held at the University of Queensland on Sunday night.
Much of Kirk’s rhetoric was tied to his deep Christian ethos.
He became the latest political shooting victim after the assassination of a Democratic politician and her husband in Minnesota, and two attempts on US President Donald Trump’s life.
Despite NSW’s protest laws requiring permits for any public assembly, vigils such as Friday’s are allowed to go ahead without a permit as long as they remain peaceful and do not block or disrupt commuters.
“The NSW Police Force is aware of the planned assembly tomorrow and will monitor the situation accordingly,” a spokesperson said.
“The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly; however, the first priority for NSW Police is always the safety of the wider community.”
Kirk’s body was flown back to his Arizona home on Friday on the plane of US Vice-President JD Vance, who was among the pallbearers accompanying his coffin.
Trump has ordered all American flags be flown at half-mast in honour of Kirk.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted online.
“He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
