Overview:
• About 400 to 500 people attended
• One protester held signs nearby
• Kirk celebrated for free speech while people are punished for critical comments about him
The assassination on Sept. 10 of right-wing political activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America, former state legislative candidate Semone Pemberton told about 400 to 500 gathered in Kirk’s memory on Sunday in Festival Park in downtown Fayetteville.
“What’s happening is more than mourning. It’s a movement,” she said. “Churches are packed again. Knees are bending. People who once drifted far from God are returning home. There is a shift in the spiritual wind and a monumental awakening.
“This isn’t just news, it’s revival,” Pemberton said.
Fayetteville’s prayer walk for Kirk came the same day as a memorial service was held for him in Arizona.
The Kirk event drew one protester. The man sat nearby and held hand-lettered signs. “The world stops for one white man. The colors around the world are bleeding!” said one. He declined to be interviewed.
Focus on Kirk’s Christian faith
Pemberton’s words reflected a religious theme of Sunday’s prayer walk for Kirk, which started in front of the Cumberland County Courthouse and ended nearly a mile away in front of the stage at Festival Park on Ray Avenue. Laura Rodrigues-Mussler, who led a prayer at the beginning of the walk, passed out cross keychains to attendees.
Faith drew John Smith of Fayetteville, a 74-year-old Army veteran, to attend. He wore clothing reflecting service in the 82nd Airborne Division, and he carried an American flag.
Why was he marching? “Our lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Smith said. “And also for the safety of the United States of America. People for over 250 years have been laying down their lives so we can have the freedom that we have today.”
Smith said he had seen Kirk on television, but had not watched or listened to Kirk’s podcasts until after his death, and had little familiarity with him prior.
When Kirk was 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA, a right-wing activist organization that focuses on bolstering support for the political right from young adults in college. He was an ally and advisor for President Donald Trump. He was an outspoken critic of gun control, of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and of abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate change.
Kim Baugus of Fayetteville was another attendee of the prayer walk.
“I am here to support the beliefs and values of Charlie Kirk. And those are things I believe our nation needs,” she said. “Charlie Kirk stood for hope in Jesus first and foremost.”
Baugus said she had not been an avid listener of Kirk’s prior to this death, but her adult children in their 20s and 30s children were. “They were followers, for sure, and listened to him regularly,” she said.
Her daughter cried for days after hearing of Kirk’s death, she said.
“This affected the young people of our nation, it did, in a very powerful way,” Baugus said. Young adults “have a fire to take his values and that hope to this generation,” she said.
Laura Baillie of Hope Mills brought her son to the march after church.
“I had watched a few of his videos before he was killed, and I just appreciated how respectful he was, even when people would yell at him, or cuss him out,” she said of Kirk. These were at Kirk’s famous college campus debates, where he engaged with students on politics and religion, and other public appearances.
She said she appreciated that Kirk would not back down on his beliefs while seeking other people’s perspectives.
After Kirk died, Baillie heard accusations that Kirk was racist, she said. She looked for examples online but could not find any, she said.
“He wanted more and more people to be considered” for jobs, Baillie said. “If there was something holding the back from being considered, he was wanting to be a part of the solution, of like, helping those obstacles to be pushed aside so they could be considered based on their merit.”
Critics of Kirk who say he was racist have pointed to his statements that he believes standards have been relaxed in order to hire Black airline pilots and doctors. For example, in 2024 he said on a podcast, “If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’” In 2023, during a speech at a Turning Point USA conference, Kirk said the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was “a huge mistake” and that Martin Luther King Jr. was “awful” and “not a good person.”
Freedom of speech
Other speakers at the prayer walk included Cumberland County Commissioner Henry Tyson and state Rep. Diane Wheatley of Cumberland County.
“Not only was he a major figure in today’s political theater, but maybe even more, that he was an evangelist for truth, decency and our lord Jesus Christ,” Wheatley said.
Kirk was exercising his right to freedom of speech when he was killed, she said.
“When I was growing up, there was a saying: I may disagree with everything you say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it,” Wheatley said.
“That used to be the essence of what it meant to be an American. When was the last time you heard it? If ever? I don’t know if Charlie Kirk ever heard it, but I am sure he believed it,” she said.
Since Kirk was killed, everyday Americans who made comments seen as critical of Kirk have been fired from their jobs or otherwise penalized following pressure from people on the internet. This is similar to Professor Watchlist, a website that Kirk and his organization set up to target college professors who allegedly say or do things that the right wing dislikes.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said on a podcast that Disney should take action against ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for comments that the chair disliked, or face consequences from the FCC. Kimmel’s show was suspended hours later, though the network said on Monday that it would bring the show back.
And President Donald Trump suggested last week that broadcasters should lose their broadcast licenses if “they give me only bad publicity,” LiveNOW from Fox reported.
In May 2024, Kirk posted a tweet on X about freedom of speech:
“Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech,” he said.
“And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment.
“Keep America free.”
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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