‘Charlie inspired them’: Supporters still grieving Kirk a year after shooting

A year after the fatal shooting of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, emotions are still raw for supporters.

“It’s still kind of shocking he’s not here,” said Erik Troe of Naperville, the Turning Point USA representative for northern Illinois.

“For me, it’s kind of hard to comprehend. I still can’t believe it … in some ways.”

Kirk, 31, was killed Sept. 10, 2025, in Utah — doing what made his right-wing organization famous — debating college students.

But before becoming a household name, Kirk was a standout varsity basketball player at Wheeling High School, an Eagle Scout, and just getting started in politics, working for local Republican candidates.

That included volunteering on former Mundelein resident Joe Walsh’s successful GOP congressional campaign in 2010.

Personally, “I’m just profoundly sad at the loss,” said Walsh, who was close friends with Kirk until they drifted apart after President Donald Trump’s first-term win.

Nationally, Kirk’s death still leaves a void for the MAGA movement, Walsh said. With Trump in his final term, Kirk “might have been the most influential voice on that side moving forward,” particularly in the 2028 presidential primary election, said Walsh, who is now a Democrat.

A vigil and memorial will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Lakewood Chapel in Arlington Heights. The event, organized by Turning Point, is not political but rather a remembrance of Kirk and a celebration of his life, said Lakewood Pastor John Ellison.

Wheeling Township Republicans also will remember Kirk with a nonpolitical drop-in gathering starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, where a Turning Point memorial service will be simulcast.

Supporters are still grieving, Wheeling Township Republican Committeeman John Saletta said.

Kirk “was admired for his voice and his approach in a world where a lot of time — on every side — there’s a lot of overly dramatic approaches to getting attention, screen time, follows and clicks,” Saletta said.

“He just wanted to sit and talk, and take people one at a time. It was deeply admired by many people in our organization and nationwide to see a more Socratic dialogue.”

Troe, who is in his 20s, met Kirk while training at Turning Point. “He was very enthusiastic about keeping the mission going,” he recalled. “He was a great mentor to a lot of people on staff.”

Since Kirk’s death, a number of Turning Point chapters have opened at high schools in the suburbs, Troe said.

“The mission hasn’t really deviated,” he said. “It’s still the same he pursued — to bring in new ideas onto college and high school campuses.”

Palatine Republican Aaron Del Mar, who is running for lieutenant governor, remembered Kirk as a teenager with big plans, helping with former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s election, and in his 20s speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Turning Point’s early days.

Kirk’s slot on the Tuesday afternoon of the convention “was a horrible speaking spot. It was basically the Illinois delegation and the cleaning crew. He powered through,” Del Mar said.

Kirk is still a force, he noted.

“Everywhere we go during the primary and even today,” Del Mar said, “there’s so many new people who say that Charlie inspired them.”

mpyke@dailyherald.com