THE NEW YORK TIMES: Joshua Runkles charged after entering site of Charlie Kirk memorial armed with a gun
A man posing as a police officer and carrying a gun entered the football stadium where Charlie Kirk’s memorial service is set to be held Sunday, police said, heightening security concerns before the event, which is expected to draw more than 100,000 people.
The man was arrested Friday afternoon after US Secret Service agents decided he was suspicious and approached him inside State Farm Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, in Glendale, Arizona, officials said.
When they did, the man said, falsely, that he was a law enforcement member and acknowledged that he had a weapon, according to Bart Graves, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Graves said police had charged the man, Joshua Runkles, 42, with impersonating a law enforcement officer and carrying a weapon into a prohibited space. Runkles has since been released on bond, Graves said.
Graves said police were trying to determine why the man entered the stadium two days before the memorial was set to be held Sunday.
Runkles lives or recently lived in North Carolina, records show. A man who answered a call to a phone number connected to him claimed that he was not the same man and then did not respond to further calls.
Anthony Guglielmi, the head of communications for the Secret Service, said that the man had knives and guns on him when he was arrested.
Local law enforcement first encountered Runkles outside the stadium, Guglielmi said, and it was only after he entered the venue and was approached by Secret Service officers that he was detained. Guglielmi added that, at the time, security officials had still been working to establish a “hardened perimeter”.
The arrest heightened security concerns for the memorial for Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative firebrand who was assassinated in Utah on September 10.
The event is not ticketed, and people are allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet members are scheduled to speak.
On Saturday afternoon, the streets and parking lot around the stadium were already barricaded.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
© 2025 The New York Times Company
Originally published on The New York Times
