A Heartbreaking Loss: Remembering Charlie Kirk and the Divide That Is Tearing Us Apart

CLEVELAND 13 (WCTU) — I keep replaying that moment in my mind, the one captured on video from the Utah Valley University event. Charlie Kirk, this young firebrand at just thirty-one, standing under a big tent, chatting with a crowd of three thousand students who showed up for his "American Comeback Tour." He was in the middle of taking questions, sparking those tough, eye-opening debates he was so famous for, when a single shot rang out from a rooftop about two hundred yards away. It hit him in the neck, and in an instant, everything changed. Students screamed, people ran for cover, pure chaos. Charlie did not make it. He was gone right there on stage, silenced mid-sentence.

As a mom, watching that footage hit me like a punch to the gut. Charlie was a husband, a dad, a guy who started Turning Point USA when he was barely out of high school, just eighteen years old, full of that raw energy to get kids thinking critically about politics and life. He built this massive movement, reaching millions of students on campuses, pushing back against what he saw as one-sided narratives. Through it all, his faith in Jesus was his anchor. He talked about it openly, like in interviews where he said, “Jesus is honestly the most important thing in my life, I’m nothing without Him.”

His last post on X, just days before, read, “Jesus defeated death so you can live.” It is the kind of thing that sticks with you, especially now. Utah Governor Spencer Cox did not hold back in his press conference when he said, “This is a political assassination.”

President Trump called it a dark moment for America, ordering flags at half-staff until Sunday and promising to give Charlie the Presidential Medal of Freedom after his funeral in Arizona.

Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in, remembering Charlie as a “lion-hearted friend” who stood up for Judeo-Christian values.

Vigils popped up everywhere, from heartfelt gatherings in Salt Lake City to Texas A&M, with flowers stacking up outside UVU’s gates and prayers lighting up churches, synagogues, and town halls across the country.

People who never even met him are crying real tears, and honestly, that says something profound about the man.

But here is what breaks my heart even more: the ugliness rising up in the aftermath. While leaders from both sides, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, are calling this detestable and a slap in the face to everything America stands for, there are these awful pockets of people online celebrating. A Canadian actress posted on Instagram like it was party time. A high school teacher in New Hampshire said she was glad he was gone, sparking demands for her to be fired. The Pentagon even warned troops to steer clear of that kind of talk. Here in Ohio, Fairview Park Councilman Michael Kilbane tweeted, “A lot of good people died today. Charlie Kirk wasn’t one of them.” His words drew nationwide fury and calls for him to step down.

As of this morning, Kilbane has apologized, but the damage is done. This is not just mean-spirited venting. It is scary. We are a country where yards are full of signs screaming “peace” and “love wins,” cars plastered with tolerance stickers. Yet when a straight, white, Christian conservative dad gets taken out for saying what he believes, some people high-five like they have scored points in a game. It feels fake, that so-called compassion. It reminds me of the line from Romans 12:9: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

Celebrating someone’s murder because you hate their ideas is not winning an argument. It is losing our souls. In a place built on the First Amendment, snuffing out a voice like that is dangerous.

Charlie’s story was all about that messy, beautiful clash of ideas. He dove headfirst into the fights over immigration, free speech, family values, all the issues that get people heated. He did it with deep-rooted faith that pushed him to act, not just talk. As a kid at Christian Heritage Academy, he found Jesus in fifth grade, and it shaped everything: his push for personal responsibility, his moral courage, his belief that the Bible was a roadmap for real life. Love him or hate his takes, Charlie believed words could change the world, not bullets. He constantly reminded us to keep talking, to keep having the hard conversations.

And his death fits this horrifying pattern. The 2024 attempts on Trump’s life. The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. When hate turns into eliminate the problem, nobody wins.

The good news, or at least some closure, is that the manhunt wrapped up quickly. By this morning, authorities had twenty-two-year-old Tyler Robinson in custody. His own father, a sheriff’s deputy, and his pastor turned him in after he confessed.

The FBI’s one-hundred-thousand-dollar reward helped, and surveillance showed him limping away in an American flag shirt with an eagle on it.

Governor Cox was clear. If convicted, Robinson will face the full weight of the law, up to the death penalty.

UVU is still closed through the weekend, the amphitheater locked down like a crime scene, a brutal reminder that even college courtyards are no longer safe havens.

As a journalist, I have covered my share of dark stories. But as a mom, I am furious, gutted, and terrified for the world my kids are growing up in. This is a world where asking a question about tough issues like mass shootings can end in a coffin, and social media fills with twisted cheers instead of shared sorrow. Yet amid the grief, there is this wave of people, millions of them, who feel Charlie’s loss on a deeper level. His faith was not preachy. It was fuel for his fight for truth, cutting through the noise of our echo chambers.

This is not a red or blue thing. It is about our shared humanity. It is about protecting the raw, spiritual core of free speech.

So let us grieve hard. Light a candle, say a prayer, hug your family. But do not stop there. Charlie’s legacy is a call to rise above. Listen more, even when it stings. Show real empathy, not the performative kind. Live out those biblical truths he loved: love your neighbor, stand against evil, bridge the gaps with courage instead of curses. If you have ever bitten your tongue in a debate, now is the time to speak up, not to divide but to defend the conversations that make us who we are.

That is how we keep Charlie’s light shining. His faith, his fire for free speech, our fragile freedoms. That is how we honor every voice and every story before the unthinkable happens again.

-----------------

Megan Gill is an independent writer for Cleveland 13 News. This article is published as an op-ed, and the opinions expressed are her own and not necessarily those of Cleveland 13 News. They come from a mother’s worry and a reporter’s drive to cut through the chaos with honesty.

-----------------

At Cleveland 13 News, we strive to provide accurate, up-to-date, and reliable reporting. If you spot an error, omission, or have information that may need updating, please email us at tips@cleveland13news.com. As a community-driven news network, we appreciate the help of our readers in ensuring the integrity of our reporting.