WETUMPKA — Hundreds of citizens attended a prayer vigil Sunday night honoring the late Charlie Kirk at the Elmore County Courthouse.
Kirk, a prolific conservative political activist and organizer, was assassinated in Utah on Wednesday while speaking on a college campus. The event in Wetumpka on Sunday night featured speeches from a variety of public figures, prayer, and hymns in honor of Kirk.
Ashley Carter, president of the Republican Women of Elmore County, told the crowd of about 500 that Kirk "wasn't just a public figure; he was an inspiration."
"Tonight we gather to remember a man who lived with his priorities in the right order," Carter said. "Charlie Kirk put God first then his family, and then he faithfully worked the mission field that God entrusted to him. His mission was to speak truth, to inspire courage, and to call people to live boldly in their faith. He carried out that mission with strength, joy, (and) conviction until his very last day."
Bryan Dawson, president and CEO of 1819 News, called Kirk "our greatest hero in the conservative media outreach world" and a "legitimate Christian martyr."
"Let's be clear: Charlie was not killed because he believed in free markets. He was murdered in cold blood because he was effective in bringing the word of God to bear on the political realm in a way that resonated with the young men of the next generation," Dawson said. "He was called a fascist not because of his appreciation of Milton Friedman's economic policies or his desire to limit the size and scope of government but because he believed in traditional marriage, that there were only two genders, and closed borders. This is why he was shot down in front of his wife and children. Charlie Kirk's influence was the greatest threat to the last 100 years of progressive-Marxist dominance in America."
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) said Kirk was part of a "spiritual battle for the future of this nation."
"He was just speaking love. He was doing it with a smile on his face. He was reaching human beings who thought they were beyond reach, but he would do it with truth, and he would do it with love," Moore said.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said, "Charlie Kirk was doing exactly what he wanted to do, exercising that fundamental right to express his opinions, but more importantly to proclaim the Gospel to all that were there."
"This wasn't an act of an individual that took his life through assassination. This was an act of the devil and let's call it that. This is spiritual warfare and it is directly targeting those of us of faith," Marshall added.
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