THE NEW YORK TIMES: Charlie Kirk memorial to draw an outpouring from the right

More than 100,000 mourners from across the country, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, are expected to pack an NFL stadium just outside Phoenix and an overflow arena next door to honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a heavily secured memorial service Sunday.

The memorial to celebrate Kirk and galvanise a political movement in his name is the culmination of scores of recent public vigils across the country that have drawn thousands of Kirk’s supporters, as well as scattered protests.

But nothing so far has approached the scale of what police and organisers are expecting in Arizona, where Kirk lived with his wife and two young children, and where his conservative organizing group, Turning Point USA, is based.

The speakers list includes not just the president and vice president but also the highest-profile members of Trump’s Cabinet and White House staff, along with a who’s who of the Make America Great Again pantheon.

So many supporters and high-profile guests are planning to attend Kirk’s memorial, set to begin at 11am Pacific time (4am AEST), that the Department of Homeland Security designated the service as a top-level security event, akin to the Super Bowl or New York Marathon.

Security concerns were heightened after law enforcement officials investigated a number of potential threats connected to Kirk or the service. There was also confusion this weekend after authorities arrested an armed man who had entered the stadium Friday. But Turning Point USA later said the man had been doing advance security work for one of the guests who was planning to attend the service.

Trump, Vance and Kirk’s widow, Erika, will speak. Also in attendance will be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.

They will be joined by Stephen Miller, a White House aide who has vowed to avenge Kirk’s death with a broad crackdown on liberal dissent; Tucker Carlson, a commentator and Trump ally who has questioned that crackdown; and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son who brought Kirk into the family’s fold.

Scores of other elected officials, prominent conservatives and Christian musicians are also attending.

The memorial is being held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home to the Arizona Cardinals, which can fit more than 70,000 people. But organizers with Turning Point were expecting such a crush that they set aside a 19,000-person arena next door, where the Phoenix hockey team once played, for overflow crowds, and said they were also planning a second overflow location.

Dozens of state and federal law enforcement officers will be providing security in Glendale, and neighboring police departments have been put on alert. Attendees are being warned to expect long screening lines and jammed parking lots and told that they will not be allowed inside with any bags, even clear plastic ones designed for concerts with tight security rules.

“It’s all hands on deck,” said Jose Santiago, a spokesperson for the Glendale Police Department, which is handling security outside the stadium. “Anyone who is available to work is working.”

Security was not nearly so strict at the Utah college event where Kirk was fatally shot Sept. 10, touching off a frantic search for the gunman and angry political recriminations.

As Kirk arrived at Utah Valley University, a gunman was able to walk onto campus with a high-powered rifle hidden in his clothing, climb to a rooftop overlooking the outdoor courtyard where Kirk spoke and then slip away in the chaos after shooting him. Kirk was 31.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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