10 SEP 26 SITREP

• One year ago today, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Utah, where he had been scheduled to speak at a campus event on the topic of monogamy; the shooting occurred approximately 26 minutes after he departed for the venue.
• Vice President JD Vance, who had been personally invited by Charlie Kirk to attend the UVU event, confirmed he was unable to be present; Vance subsequently flew with Kirk's body back to Phoenix, Arizona, during which his wife Usha Vance consoled Kirk's widow Erika Kirk on the plane, telling her to take things "15 minutes at a time."
• Erika Kirk attended a criminal trial related to the assassination, enduring over 30 hours of testimony in proceedings that included a bind-over hearing, maintaining public composure throughout; associates present at the trial noted her resolve as a defining display of character under extreme duress.
• A 9-foot bronze statue of Kirk was unveiled at Turning Point USA headquarters, commissioned from artist Quintin McCann, a 20-year-old from Utah, depicting Kirk in the act of throwing a hat toward the crowd with his hand oriented upward toward God, featuring his wedding ring, a cross outside his shirt, the Turning Point MAGA hat logo, and his joggers; plans were announced to place the statue in the U.S. Capitol, with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reported to have already identified a location.

• Turning Point USA was founded by Charlie Kirk on June 5, 2012, beginning with no funding and no connections; Kirk barnstormed Illinois and the Midwest speaking at Tea Party rallies following an initial speech in Rockford, Illinois, before the organization expanded nationally.
• Kirk's campus debate tour grew exponentially through social media, particularly TikTok, accelerating from a few hundred attendees at events in fall 2023 to events at San Diego State University and Texas A&M University drawing thousands; at Texas A&M, 3,500 people packed the venue after a large event had already taken place earlier the same day.
• Erika Kirk assumed stewardship of Turning Point USA following her husband's death, working to ensure the organization continued operating as a resource for high school and college students across America; contributors including Riley Gaines and Savannah Hernandez joined the organization's media operations on Real America's Voice network.
• Turning Point USA held a one-year memorial broadcast streamed from its headquarters, with a moment of silence observed at 11:24 local time (2:23 PM Eastern), a simultaneous billboard tribute erected in Times Square in New York City, and a streaming event at UVU in Utah scheduled for 4:30 PM Pacific today.

• Memes marking the one-year anniversary of Kirk's murder have spread across every social media platform in the days leading up to today, with accounts posting "Happy Kirkiversary to those who celebrate!" while mocking conservatives and Republicans who are still grieving his loss.
• Physical acts mocking Kirk's death have emerged in real life, including people poking others in the neck and saying they have "Kirked" them, while a man claiming to be a Caesars Palace employee posted a video of a self-described "Charlie Kirk Memorial Fountain" depicting a smiling likeness of Kirk with a hole in his neck from which water springs; Caesars Palace denied he worked for them.
• A Carolina Panthers communications staffer was fired over comments celebrating Kirk's death, a Ball State employee was fired and then reinstated, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah was fired and then brought back after a lawsuit with back pay, and teachers and nurses were also let go after being called out by conservative activists online following his murder.
• The "We Are Charlie Kirk" tribute song hit number 1 on the Spotify Viral 50 US chart after being remixed into a meme, with users playing it over viral videos, sports clips, and footage of his shooting; commentator Gene Park of the Washington Post suggested the trend began as mockery but quickly lost meaning, a characterization disputed by those who knew and were influenced by Kirk.