Scheduled Turning Point USA event to go on as planned at U of M
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The American Comeback Tour — the college event originally hosted by Charlie Kirk — will still be held Monday at the University of Minnesota’s Northrop Auditorium.
Michael Knowles, a conservative commentator and author, will host the Turning Point USA event Monday evening.
Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on Sept. 10 by a gunman during the tour's kickoff event at the Utah Valley University. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
Knowles posted to social media on Wednesday: “What was going to be a conversation between me and Charlie will now be a tribute to Charlie and an open forum for Q&A. The enemies of civilization will not succeed at killing his mission. They will not even succeed at killing his tour.”
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Minnesotans organized vigils for Kirk in cities across the state in recent days, including one in New Ulm on Saturday. Organizer Kate Harris said she was horrified by Kirk's assassination and wanted to help people feel a sense of community in its aftermath.
“We needed to get back in touch with our humanity by coming together to mourn, even if we don’t agree with everything he stood for,” Harris said. “I mean, a man’s life was taken and that’s not how we do things here in America.”
Harris said she had never organized an event before, but says the video shocked her into action.
“We’re going to try and leave politics out of it as much as possible,” she said prior to Saturday’s vigil. Instead, she said the event was about “coming together as a community to mourn a political assassination, but also to pray for the direction of our country and to help people remember that we’re all human and we need to be kind.”
Meanwhile, University of Minnesota president Rebecca Cunningham sent out a notice Friday addressing the violence on display at schools and campuses across the state and nation.
“I also want to acknowledge the anxiety about Monday evening’s Turning Point event on our campus,” Cunningham said in the statement. “We recognize those concerns and have updated our safety protocols to take every precaution warranted to ensure safety for all.”
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson confirmed that the agency will assist with security efforts at the event. The University of Minnesota Police Department will lead the effort.
Erika Kirk had said previously the comeback tour and all Kirk’s work would continue. She was named CEO of Turning Point USA on Thursday.
The student chapter, Turning Point USA UMN, is presenting the indoor event, according to the Northrop website. It was originally supposed to be held outside in Northrop Plaza, the site said.
A university spokesperson said the university would not comment on the tour stop. The student chapter did not respond to requests for comment.
Tickets for the event are sold out.
