Supporters of Charlie Kirk returned to Utah Valley University on Thursday night, one year after the conservative activist was assassinated on the Orem campus, in what Turning Point USA described as a deliberate effort to reclaim the space in his honor.
Andrew Kolvet, a TPUSA spokesman and executive producer of «The Charlie Kirk Show,» said the event was intended to honor Kirk's legacy. «We're doing an event in Utah right now at UVU, a deliberate act reclaiming that space in his honor and for his legacy,» Kolvet told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Thursday night.
Andrew Sypher, TPUSA's chief field officer, told the gathering that he had been standing about 10 feet to Kirk's left when the fatal shot rang out on Sept. 10, 2025. «Steps from these doors is the ground where evil unfolded,» Sypher said. «We did not come back to rehearse the crime scene.» Instead, he said, they returned because «this is where they tried to end him» and «this is where we refuse to let the last word be a gunshot.»
For the students of UVU's TPUSA chapter, the anniversary marked a return to the campus where some witnessed Kirk's assassination. Chapter President Sage Lloyd told the crowd that «a year ago, our lives changed forever.» She said students experienced «fear, grief, confusion, and heartbreak» and had every reason to walk away. «We could have packed our bags. We could have stepped away,» she said. Despite the tragedy, the chapter stayed. «The same students who witnessed a political assassination are willing to stand up, speak out and keep moving forward,» Lloyd said. «We can let it define us through fear, or we can let it strengthen us through courage,» she added. «The Turning Point chapter at UVU has made our decision, and we chose courage.»
Sypher also revealed what he said was a text Kirk sent him on the morning he was assassinated. «Andrew, I'm not here to pick a fight. I am here to show them kindness,» Kirk wrote, according to Sypher. «That was the assignment this time,» Sypher said. «To talk with students who hate you. To share the truth, and to not become cruel doing it.» Soon afterward, Kirk was fatally shot. «Charlie's assassination did not put our faith to death,» Sypher told the crowd. «It woke it up.»
The service was marked with worship performances and video tributes to the fallen conservative leader, as well as an unveiling of a new statue to stay on campus at UVU. Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, separately marked the anniversary with a black-and-white photograph from their wedding showing the couple holding hands. Across the image were two words: «...until Heaven.»
The university closed its campus for the one-year anniversary. UVU itself did not organize the memorial, but university President Dr. Jon Anderson previously told Fox News Digital the school supported TPUSA using campus space for its event. Lloyd closed her remarks with a message about what returning to UVU meant for Kirk's student movement. «Our chapter is still here, we are still speaking, and we are nowhere near done,» she said. «And that is how his voice lives on.»
Vice President JD Vance also honored Kirk on the anniversary, recalling his friend during a Republican convention address. «I was elected Vice President of the United States one year ago today, on September the 10th of last year, that good friend was taken from us when Charlie was assassinated,» Vance said. He noted that Kirk left behind two young children who were «too young to fully understand.» Vance used the closing night of the convention to argue that Democrats have moved so far to the left that they no longer resemble the party of past Democratic presidents, branding the modern Democratic Party the «party of hatred.»
The anniversary events underscored the continued influence of Kirk's movement on conservative campuses, as TPUSA chapters across the country prepare for the new school year. For the students at UVU, the return to campus was both a memorial and a statement of resolve. «We are still standing,» Lloyd said, echoing the sentiment of the evening.