Gen Z’s Two-Sided Response to the Anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s Death

The words of “Amazing Grace” echoed around the base of the Washington Monument on Thursday evening. Young people, mainly college students attending Washington D.C.’s universities, had gathered to mourn Charlie Kirk on the anniversary of his assassination.

Read more Trump’s Dividend Proposal Catches Republicans by Surprise

Kirk was shot and killed while debating students at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. The shooting was filmed by attendees, then posted to social media, where it spread rapidly to millions of people around the world.

Anna Ruf was at home in Germany last September when it happened. It was around 2 a.m. when notifications saying Kirk had been killed began popping up on her phone. “I couldn’t go to bed,” she told National Review. “I just stayed awake.”

“I thought to myself, ‘He’s going to survive. There’s no way he’s going to die. He’s going to survive somehow,’” Ruf said. “It still feels surreal in a way. It’s all sort of weird; it feels like a dream.”

Now attending American University, Ruf joined the TPUSA-sponsored vigil. Alongside peers clad in “Freedom” shirts, she walked from the Lincoln Memorial up the National Mall.

She noticed that attendees seemed to come from only one political demographic.

“I wish we lived in a world where we had people from all over the political spectrum who would come to this memorial,” Ruf said. “Most people who are here are Republicans or conservative. In a way, of course, I’m glad to see them, because I’m conservative myself, but I think it’s sad there are no Democrats here. No left-leaning people.”

She added, “No matter if you’re left or right, this is not about politics. This is about freedom of speech and being allowed to have an opinion.”

Online, many young people have reacted to Kirk’s death differently. Some have posted videos celebrating the day, calling it “Kirkaversary” or “Kirkmas.”

Read more Illegal Immigrant Teen Convicted of Groping Female Classmates in Virginia Has Been Deported

On Bluesky, New York Times opinion columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote, “Middle school children in my little liberal oasis were apparently wishing each other ‘Happy Kirkaversary’ today so that’s how it’s going, if you wanted to know.”

Another Bluesky user responded to Cottom’s post, “Woke up to ‘Guess what day it is?’ From my 16-year-old, followed by ‘Happy Kirkiversary!’” In response, another user wrote, “Same here. I told them good morning; they wished me happy Kirkiversary.”

Cole Kinghorn, a student attending university in D.C., described comments celebrating Kirk’s death to National Review as “shocking.”

“People on the left, under their real names and faces — you know, teachers, pharmacists, flight attendants, service workers, and random people throughout your communities — under their real names and real faces were openly in celebration of a brutal, public, political murder that just happened. It was very, very shocking,” he said.

Kinghorn expressed surprise that “so many of these people felt totally emboldened” and “had no fear of repercussion” for celebrating Kirk’s assassination.

However, Marie McDonald, 16, from Boerne Texas told National Review she has felt braver since last September 10.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, McDonald said, “He inspired us to speak truth. I think he is a very important part of American history.” Kirk’s murder “made me realize how much more important this is than I thought.”

Read more For Years, 9/11 Was Something Students Lived. Today, It’s a History Lesson