(The Hill) — Lawmakers, Trump administration officials and other dignitaries will honor the memory of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk at a vigil on Sunday evening.
The Kennedy Center will host the D.C. Prayer Vigil at 6 p.m. EDT.
Those attending include House Speaker Mike Johnson, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Republican Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.). Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman (R) organized the event.
Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday at a campus event in Utah.
“The service will be a unifying event focused on prayer, mourning, and celebrating the life, legacy, and memory of Charlie Kirk — a national treasure whose life was cut far too short,” a press release announcing the event reads.
“People are very saddened. They’re very angry. They’re — many people are afraid,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday.”
“It cast a shadow across the country and certainly on Capitol Hill. But as Erika (Kirk) said so well, so clearly, our friend Charlie would not want us to be consumed by despair. He would want us to carry his message forward, and that’s exactly what is going to happen,” he added.
A memorial service for Kirk is set for Sept. 21 in Glendale, Ariz., and President Trump has said he would attend.
Early in his second term, Trump remade the Kennedy Center Board and appointed himself board chair. He criticized the institution’s previous programming as “out of control,” arguing it showcased performances with “rampant political propaganda.”
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