Hundreds turn out for Charlie Kirk memorial at Cal Poly
A packed house filled the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly on Monday night, as hundreds of community members showed up to celebrate the memory of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed on a Utah college campus on Sept. 10.
The vigil was organized by the San Luis Obispo County Activism Hub for Turning Point in collaboration with Cal Poly’s chapter of Turning Point USA, the nonprofit organization founded by Kirk in 2012.
The night featured around an hour of Christian worship led by Active Church San Luis Obispo, plus speeches by San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, law student Kendall Caruana and Cal Poly’s Turning Point chapter president Ryan Rundle.
The crowd — which included both students and members of the public — nearly filled the Performing Arts Center’s Miossi Hall, which has a capacity of around 1,300 people. University spokesperson Matt Lazier told The Tribune the estimated headcount was 1,000.
Security was also on high alert.
Multiple Cal Poly police vehicles were stationed outside the center, and at least one apparent sniper was staged atop the nearby Vista Grande dining complex. Guests were vetted for weapons by security officials, and purses and bags were required to be checked in with security and picked up as people left the event.
Lazier said Cal Poly Police had two officers, a lieutenant and a chief focused on the memorial. The university also leaned on the San Luis Obispo Police Department’s drone team, and four officers from the regional SWAT team provided overwatch, he said.
According to Lazier, the costs of putting on the event were shared by both the organizers and the university. The online event listing showed that the Cal Poly Turning Point club was working to raise $5,000 to cover costs associated with holding the event at the Performing Arts Center.
Nina Spinello, president of the SLO County Activism Hub for Turning Point, told The Tribune she raised $15,000 for the Cal Poly chapter in the week prior to the event.
The Tribune inquired about the university’s share of costs but had not received a response as of Tuesday morning.
SLO County residents attend Charlie Kirk vigil
By 5:30 p.m., just before doors opened, at least 200 people had lined up outside the building waiting to enter.
On the opposite side of the building, a large group of students gathered around a separate entrance waiting for priority seating reserved for Cal Poly students, according to the event listing.
Cal Poly freshman Cole Carroll was one of the students who attended the vigil. He told The Tribune he was there because Kirk’s beliefs resonated with him and he wanted to join the effort to honor his memory.
“I appreciated his care for people, regardless of their political beliefs, their religious views, even though he had his own agenda of sharing religious beliefs to people,” Carroll, an agricultural science major, said. “You could tell through his interviews that he really had love for all of the people, even if they were cussing him out and throwing things at him.”
SLO resident Charlie Janis said she attended the event to support the young people who are carrying on Kirk’s movement through Turning Point.
“Although the old people and the preachers and the teachers are committed to Charlie Kirk, it’s when the young people get up there and speak and recognize what they’ve done to their lives,” she said. “That’s a heartfelt message to hear from the young people.”
Janis said she appreciated Kirk’s debates.
“He always gave a factual, easy answer and he appreciated all the people that had a question,” she said.
Charlie Kirk vigil included Christian worship, speeches
The memorial itself, which began before 6:30 p.m. with the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, leaned heavily on Christian worship music, sermons and quoted Bible verses.
Active Church teaching pastor and the night’s emcee, Josh Jones, made it clear that Kirk’s legacy was intertwined with religion.
“We thought that it would be fitting tonight, as we gather to not just honor the life of Charlie Kirk, but also rejoin together corporately as a community to declare this very simple truth, that Jesus is still the answer,” he said to cheers, whistles and echoes of “Amen” from the crowd.
Guests raised their phone flashlights as Jones led the crowd through a moment of silence, before playing a video tribute for Kirk, featuring his widow and new leader of the Turning Point organization, Erika Kirk. The video was one of several tributes produced by the White House.
Active Church Pastor Adam Magaña then led the crowd through a lengthy sermon that weaved together politics and scripture. He said the response to Kirk’s death marked a turning point, and the start of a revival. He added that Kirk’s killing was a martyrdom and “an attack on an effective Christian who was evangelizing and proselytizing the good news on college campuses.”
The crowd also sang several songs led by Active Church, with guests singing out and raising their arms in worship. Some guests wiped away tears as they sang.
The worship hour was followed by a speech from Dow, who took the stage at around 7:30 p.m.
The district attorney quoted scripture and told Bible stories to honor Kirk’s legacy, and took the chance to speak against transgender identities, referring back to one of Kirk’s previous debates.
“Someone once challenged Charlie at the microphone and said something like, ‘Wasn’t it courageous for a person to respect that a man could become a woman?’ And he responded rather controversially but truthfully,” Dow said. “He said, ‘That’s not a man, that’s a coward. A real man would respect a woman in all shapes and forms.’”
The statement garnered a large round of applause from the audience.
Dow has previously spoken out against transgender rights and is not shy about sharing his conservative beliefs. On Monday, Dow encouraged the crowd to be outspoken about their beliefs, too.
He closed his speech by calling for the crowd to chant “I am Charlie Kirk.”
Dow’s speech was followed by law student Kendall Caruana, who spoke about her experiences as a conservative student attending high school and college. She claimed that teachers treated her differently for her beliefs and marked down her grades based on her political opinions.
Ultimately, she became a “closeted Republican” and began writing papers she didn’t agree with to pass her classes, she said, but Kirk’s death stirred her to become more outspoken. She encouraged students and young people in the crowd not to silence themselves.
Caruana was followed by a speech from Turning Point chapter president Ryan Rundle.
Monday’s event concluded around 9 p.m.
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to reflect that the San Luis Obispo County Activism Hub for Turning Point organized the event and raised $15,000 for the Cal Poly Turning Point club.
.JPG)