Homer holds vigil for Charlie Kirk; highlights opening of local Turning Point Education private school

Hundreds of people gathered on the beach Wednesday, Sept. 17, to remember Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed while holding a campus event in Utah for his organization, Turning Point USA, on Sept. 10.

The vigil in Homer was organized by District 6 Rep. Sarah Vance and community member Cassie Lawver and began with remarks from Lawver.

“While we are here to honor Charlie and pray for his family, there’s always the possibility that someone may want to come and cause disruption,” Lawver said.

If that were to happen, she said, “Stay where you’re at, and if it gets hectic, just kind of hit the ground, and whoever’s standing we’ll know who it is.”

Lawver read aloud from a eulogy she found on the Turning Point USA website, before welcoming Glacierview Baptist Church pastor, Andy Miller, to speak.

Miller said Kirk’s goal was never to “antagonize people for the sake of it.”

“He wanted to speak the truth,” said Miller, to the gathered crowd. “And he did, at least, usually in love, because lying to someone is not love, and some of those truths, when a person is caught up in it, are hard to hear.”

Miller went on to acknowledge that Kirk wasn’t perfect, “because he was a human being,” and reminded the crowd to “love your neighbor as yourself,” saying that’s what Kirk did each day.

In her remarks, Vance said many have been asking themselves, “Why are we so grieved by the loss of this one man?” and, after further reflection, she said she realized it’s because he embodies the values and the life that “we aspire to,” describing Kirk as “a man of conviction who was well read, highly knowledgeable, articulate and bold.”

“He was murdered in front of hundreds of young people because of what he was saying,” Vance said. “And so we asked, ‘Are we next?’ If we speak up about what we believe in and what the truth is about our country, about our faith, about biology, are we going to be targeted?”

She said the legacy that Kirk left is one that “will not die,” noting that it is not a political turn, but rather a spiritual one.

Kirk was a far-right political activist whose views have been tied by many to a rise in Christian nationalism across the U.S. He regularly toured college campuses across the country, engaging college students in debates where he defended his views including criticism of the Civil Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as opposition to gun control and affirmative action.

Kirk became civically engaged while still in high school, making his first appearance on Fox News at the age of 17 and co-founding Turning Point USA at 18, after dropping out of college.

At Wednesday’s vigil, Cat Cushway also spoke. announcing the formation of a new, local “classical Christian private school.”

She said the school, named “Revive Academy,” will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade and start in the fall of 2026.

Revive Academy is part of a partnership with Kirk’s Turning Point USA initiative, called Turning Point Education.

Cushway described the group’s mission as “to restore God in the classroom, revive traditional values, reclaim the foundational works that shaped our nation’s founding and rebuild education to focus on the child, the family, the church and the community.”

She said Revive Academy is one of only 11 Turning Point 5C Schools nationwide.

The gathering ended with worship music performed by local musician and former “America’s Got Talent” contestant, Silas Luke Jones.

Vance said on closing that Turning Point USA has received more than 54,000 requests to start new chapters since Kirk’s death on Sept. 10.

On Sept. 18, the U.S. Senate declared Oct. 14 — Kirk’s birthday — as “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version.