‘One of a kind’: Young suburbanites remember Charlie Kirk as mentor, friend

Having grown up in Naperville with conservative values, 24-year-old Kevin Phares was inspired by right-wing activist, author and media personality Charlie Kirk to launch a chapter of Kirk’s Turning Points USA group on the Illinois State University campus while an undergraduate there.

“I found a voice through Charlie,” said Phares, a 2019 Naperville North High School graduate. “He motivated me to promote those ideas on my campus and offer a welcoming atmosphere for diverse opinions.”

Phares, who’s now a second-year student at the Liberty University School of Law in Virginia, said he learned of Kirk’s assassination through a flood of texts as he exited a criminal law class Wednesday.

“I was shocked,” Phares said. “I’m still in shock. I’m waiting for it to hit me like it absolutely 100% happened.”

Westchester resident Leslie Mendoza, a former Turning Point USA staffer, said her cellphone was similarly deluged with messages Wednesday afternoon. She called the murder “unimaginable.”

“Charlie Kirk was one of a kind,” Mendoza, 21, said in an email. “The conservative movement will never have anyone as great as him.”

Mendoza first met Kirk in 2021 while she was establishing a Turning Point USA chapter at Lyons Township High School in La Grange. After graduating, Mendoza joined the nonprofit organization’s development team at its Phoenix headquarters, and over time Kirk became a mentor and friend, she said.

“He naturally filled me with so much encouragement and empowerment,” said Mendoza, now a regional coordinator for an anti-abortion group called Students for Life of America. “Whether he was popping into the office to check in or sending a quick text after I left the organization, he always made sure you felt valued and appreciated.”

Phares met Kirk at a suburban event in 2019; they connected again in 2022 at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where Kirk presented him with a Turning Points USA Campus Warrior Award for his work at Illinois State.

He recalled Kirk mingling with guests at the 2019 gathering.

“He was such a normal person,” Phares said. “I think that’s lost to a lot of people.”

Phares said he hopes Turning Point chapters will continue “to fight with the same grace and love and compassion that Charlie did.”

Kirk’s critics would disagree with that assessment of the former Prospect Heights resident’s approach. They accused Kirk of spreading conspiracy theories and promoting other controversial beliefs.

But challenging the status quo the way Kirk did was necessary, Phares said.

“No significant change in the world ever happened due to conformity,” he said. “Whether he was right or wrong depends on your personal world view.”

Being controversial shouldn’t have led to a “death sentence” for Kirk, Phares added.

“To condemn someone to death for being controversial, for disagreeing with you, is despicable,” he said. “It’s evil.”

Mendoza doubts Turning Point USA and the conservative movement ever will get over Kirk’s death.

“Losing Charlie will, however, serve as encouragement to do what we do best: keep fighting,” she said.