Tens of thousands of MAGA supporters gathered at State Farm Stadium in Arizona Sunday for the public memorial and funeral for right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk. And while African Americans mostly stayed home, they turned to social media to grapple with Kirk’s horrific death and his problematic anti-Black views.
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Last week, the assassination of Charlie Kirk sparked a wave of anger across the country from MAGA folks and Black Americans, the latter who criticized the use of gun violence but offered empathy towards Kirk and his family.
As expected, Kirk’s funeral attracted a crowd of over 200,000, according to The Independent, with public officials also in attendance. President Donald Trump was there, noting Kirk’s “noble spirit.”
“He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents; he wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them.”
Trump apologized for hating his opponents to Kirk’s wife, Erika Kirk, who publicly forgave her husband’s alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, during the service.
Black Republican Ben Carson attended the ceremony, thanking Kirk for being a sacrifice and stating that America cannot be the land of the free if “you’re not the home of the brave. You gotta stand up for what you believe in.”
What might come as a surprise is that Candace Owens, the divisive Black conservation political commentator and one of Kirk’s closest friends who has been publicly mourning his death online, was not in attendance. On her podcast, Owens made it clear that she did not feel safe attending the service after receiving multiple emails from media publications that asked if she would be at the service.
“…You want me to confirm my attendance so that you know where I’m going to be ahead of time? Am I being paranoid, or does that seem a little weird? …While I’m attacking the feds, maybe not going to a public event, which the feds are organizing, is probably a very good idea.”
Outside of public figures, Black folks also posted their thoughts about the event onto TikTok, with some calling for the memorial to be treated with respect. TikTok creator (@mr1deep) stated that he had heard people wanted to protest the events and shared that he believed such people needed to be mentally evaluated.
“Why disrupt a peaceful event? I don’t understand that. If u don’t like someone, why go near them or things that involve that person? We miss you, Charlie Kirk,” one viewer responded in the comments.
Another creator, Alii (@Allifromthevalley007), shared similar sentiments, stating that she would be praying for all folks in attendance at the memorial, because people are “unhinged.”
“We should honor Charlie for his great work on earth that god used him to do,” the creator spoke. “…I’m praying for you guys because I don’t know how I’m going to make it through this funeral… He meant so much to me.”
Though on the other side of the spectrum, popular TikTok creator, Dwight Thomas (@therealdthomasforreal), asked why the same level of attention given to Charlie Kirk isn’t given to all cases of gun violence.
“…What I really wonder is if they’re going to talk about the fact that there was another mass-unaliving (murder) last night, because of the same thing that he (Charlie Kirk) consistently advocated for people with guns.”
The shooting that the creator refers to is the case of Hunter Nadeau, who was charged with murder after shooting guests at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, according to The Independent.
In the comments of Thomas’s video, many users expressed a level frustration over the memorial.
“It’s (Kirk’s funeral) in my city, and it’s literally chaos out here. I’m not going outside today,” wrote one user.
The livestream of Charlie Kirk’s memorial and funeral service was over eight hours long and streamed by over 2 million on the “Turning Point USA” YouTube Channel.
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