“Sad and Shock”: Utah Responds to Charlie Kirk’s Kill | Charlie Kirk Shooting

Orem, Utah, is a sleepy suburb with about 100,000 people at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, never asking for national focus.

But in Charlie Kirk, a radical activist who killed far-right The weight of American eyes is inevitable in front of a group of people at a university in the heart of town. The American Flag Forest (UVU) planted on the Interpass on the highway next to Utah Valley University (UVU) was shot to death. Lockdown and temporary memorials campus. Local police and FBI agents are everywhere.

With Kirk’s death shocked and still going on to shooter hunters, many in the community are getting along with the size of what’s going on here and split on the Kirk leaves of the legacy.

“I was sad, just shocked. There was no such thing in Utah,” said Brice Nokes, 27, who stood at the entrance to the UVU campus on Thursday with a sign that read “I believe in you,” bold capital letters. He brought it to the entrance to the university today, hoping to help spread positivity after the killing.

The campus, which typically has bushes of more than 40,000 college students, remains silent on this sunny Thursday morning, roads are blocked, and law enforcement and media are outnumbered by civilians. Warning tape was blocked from the amphitheater, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder, a Mammoth characters from right-wing youth organizationshot dead.

Kirk’s “Prove me wrongPop-up tent – invites attendees to debate right-wing provocateurs on his college campus tour – still stands. Students’ personal belongings, from backpacks to water bottles, were scattered throughout the stands and left in the middle of the ground.

Tanner Lundquist, 31, a former UVU student, returned to campus Thursday and said his community was “not about being on the world stage.”

“It’s really disturbing for me to see the yard where I used to do homework on Fox News on CNN,” Lundquist said.

In the past 24 hours, temporary memorials and vigils have surfaced throughout the town. Beneath the UVU’s large steel and green nameplate, a bouquet of flowers scattered on the sidewalk. American flag and homemade placards adorn the sign outside the Tim Panogos Regional Hospital, Kirk was pronounced dead.

Wendy Lucas, 44, walked to the UVU memorial in a camouflage, prayed and added a small American flag and two red panda action figures to the pile. Lucas said the giant panda was Kirk’s two children.

“Every life should be valuable,” Lucas said. “This shouldn’t happen.”

Faith An estimated 72% of the population is Mormon.

Kimberly Clark, 50, said in the parking lot of Orem Walmart that the shootings shaking her community and, like many, she felt comfort in the later Saints Church.

“That’s surreal, but I feel like the community is getting together more than anything,” Clark said. “I have friends texting me to make sure my kids are OK.”

Emily Patterson, 51, said many students who fled the shooting gathered at the 218-foot-tall Orem Temple.

“A lot of people walked straight to it, stayed on the ground or went in,” Patterson said. “They gathered there to feel comforted.”

The turning point of political violence?

Some conservatives in the town predicted Kirk’s death would be a flashpoint in a already divided country and expected tensions to “boil”.

Lundquist and his father, Steven, 64, both described themselves as conservative and viewed shootings as a turning point in political violence—a metaphor that could happen where a dam broke.

Lundquist said he was yelling because he was “worrying to be silenced” and felt Kirk represented the same.

“The God-fearing nation that fears God’s values,” Tanner said. “What we fear is that the voice will be closed on university campuses where young Americans are getting education.” ”

His father, Steven, responded to the concern of freedom indoctrination, calling people in higher education “godless.” Steven also said the killings had caused him to worry about openly practicing his Christian faith.

“I go to church every Sunday, I take my family, I look at those doors, and I wonder if anyone will explode with a semi-automatic weapon and start to explode.”

Steven admits his fears are “no different” from those faced by children who attend school in the United States, where shootings are grim. Kirk himself spoke out in his support for the Second Amendment, saying A certain number of guns die every year It is a “prudent agreement” to “protect our God-given rights.”

However, some say it is important not to shy away from Kirk’s split view or “put him on the pedestal.”

Jonathan Crow, 24, was shocked by the shooting and the leaves of the legacy Kirk.

“We condemn any form of political violence,” Crow said, standing outside the grocery store with a bag in his hand. “But we should also condemn the hateful rhetoric Charlie Kirk’s lifelong opposition to women, people of color, minorities, the Muslim community.”

Isabella Roque, 24 The same feeling draws a clear line between Kirk’s behavior in life and his violent death.

Roque stood beside the crow and said, “His death has a specific meaning, that is, it is important not to react violently to political differences.” Rock said, standing beside the crow. “His life means something else.”

For Roque, it is important not to “romanticize” Kirk.

“His death is not personal. His death has affected not only his family and friends, but the country as a whole,” Rock said. “In this regard, I think it’s even more important to be honest about who you are.”