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‘It’s very heartbreaking’ Students, politicians host vigil for Charlie Kirk at IU
BRIANA PACE | IDS
An attendee of the vigil held in honor of Charlie Kirk gets emotional listening to a speaker at the event Sept. 14, 2025, at the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington. Many people in the crowd wiped away tears during prayers or while listening to different politicians discuss the impact Kirk had.
By Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller
mhilkowi@iu.edu | ami3@iu.edu
Aaron Walpole, an IU junior, was studying at the library when he saw on social media that right-wing activist Charlie Kirk had been shot. He said he fell into a thousand-yard stare. He noticed another student put his hand over his mouth. “I go, ‘Charlie?’” he said. “And he said ‘Yeah.’” In a lecture hall later that afternoon, Walpole said, he heard someone ask if their friend had heard “the good news.” After the student described what happened, Walpole said he told them to “shut up.” “Do you think it's okay to kill someone for their political beliefs?” he remembered himself asking them, hours after Kirk’s assassination. But that discord was absent the night of Sept. 14 at the Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall, as mourners of Kirk sought to honor the activist they looked up to. … Kirk was fatally shot in the neck Sept. 10 at an event at Utah Valley University. The alleged killer, 22-yearold Tyler Robinson, was arrested Sept. 11. Kirk is survived by his wife Erika and two children, 1 and 3 years old. In the killing’s fallout came an outpouring of grief, anger and
more. None of Walpole’s friends wanted to talk about Kirk’s assassination at first. But Sept. 14, at the two-hour vigil commemorating Kirk and his life’s work led by elected officials, pastors and students, Walpole said it was great to see everyone coming together. Some in the crowd wore shirts reading “I AM CHARLIE” and “FEAR IS A LIAR.” Others wore MAGA hats or white shirts they scrawled messages on in marker. Some told the Indiana Daily Student they’d gravitated toward Kirk for his messages on faith, others for his politics. Hundreds of them filled Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall — students, parents and children. Numerous elected officials were in attendance, too. Speakers included Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, Attorney General Todd Rokita, Sen. Todd Young and representatives for Rep. Erin Houchin and Sen. Jim Banks. Security — featuring the IU Police Department, Allied Universal security and Indiana State Police — was tight around all; everyone had to go through metal detectors. And that’s perhaps an effect, or at least a reminder of, continued fears around politically motivated violence in America. In June, Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband Mark Hortman
were shot and killed in their home. Before his killing, Kirk garnered a reputation as a prominent face of the youth conservative movement. He founded the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was 18. According to the organization's website, it has chapters on over 2,000 high school and college campuses, including at Indiana University. IU’s chapter was supposed to host Kirk at IU Bloomington on Oct. 21. Kirk gained a following for his unique debate style, which often featured him sparring with students on their views of controversial topics, including religion and abortion. He was embarking on his “The American Comeback Tour” when he was assassinated. For many students and Americans at large, Kirk was known for his positions on issues deeply personal to them. That included what he said about people’s race, religion and gender. “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” he wrote in a post on X, the day before his killing. “Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge,” he said on his show about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement. He once described being transgender as “a throbbing middle finger to God.” …
IU graduate student Terrence McGoldrick was on a Zoom call when he first got an alert from Fox News that Kirk had been shot. He hoped Kirk had just been grazed in the ear, like President Donald Trump was. But when he opened X to see the video, he knew “this is not good.” He sent the video to his fiancée, Stephanie Rivero, also an IU graduate student. “He sends me this horrific video, and I just felt like the world stopped for a moment,” Rivero said. “Because at first I thought it was AI. I was like, ‘That can’t be real. I can’t be seeing this.’ To see somebody murdered over freedom of speech. It’s very heartbreaking.” McGoldrick and Rivero decided to attend Sunday’s vigil to pay their respects to Kirk and his family. “This is not a TV show,” Rivero said. “It’s real, and a real-life person lost their life, and their children will grow up without a father, and their wife is now widowed.” Much of the vigil focused on the role of free speech in society. IU student Hamza Sahli represented Indiana Sen. Jim Banks during the vigil, but he also took his time at the microphone to recount his own experiences at IU, including when protesters disrupted a College Republicans at IU event with Banks and “Libs of TikTok” founder Chaya Raichik in April 2024. “Despite that fact, Sen. Jim Banks decided to invite
them in and to let them join the discussion. The ones that had no interest in having that conversation were let out,” Sahli said. “The ones that were willing to made that atmosphere the best it could have been.” McGoldrick stood with 12 other students behind Sahli on stage. He held an American flag out to the crowd. “(To) the people who are scared, I say this: don’t give in to people who want you to be fearful that you’re going to end up hurt or victimized like Charlie was,” McGoldrick said. “Don’t give in to that. Go out there and if something does happen to you, embrace it, because it’s what was meant to happen that day, and people will pick up the mantle that you left behind and carry on.” … Derek Britt, pastor and director of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at IU Bloomington, said 300 to 400 students gathered Sept. 11 at Willkie Auditorium for a weekly service. In the “chaotic moment” after Kirk’s death, he said a freshman named Tyler asked him to pray with him and for a hug after the service. He asked all the students in Alumni Hall to raise their hands, then encouraged audience members to reach around and put their hand on a student’s shoulder. Heads bowed, they prayed. “Lord, we are living in a
world that is broken. Lord, and we need you,” Britt said. “We need you. This campus needs you, God, and we’re grateful tonight, Lord, that across this campus, Lord, we have thousands of students that are serving you, that are walking with you.” Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith addressed the crowd while wearing a white shirt reading “Freedom,” the same shirt Kirk wore when he was shot. Beckwith, a Noblesville pastor and selfdescribed Christian nationalist, said he loved and admired Kirk. During his almost 15-minute address to the crowd, he frequently referenced Kirk’s commitment to Christianity. Beckwith said he will pray for Kirk’s accused shooter. “How amazing would it be to see in heaven Charlie and his shooter worshiping the same God, celebrating him for a thousand years because they both found Jesus,” Beckwith said. “I think Charlie would want that, and I think you should want that.” Beckwith continued to say he thinks the country will see a revival in Christianity across the nation following Kirk’s death. “But what this shooter didn’t realize, he was being lied to by demonic forces, by lies from the pits of hell,” Beckwith said. “But you know what he didn’t realize? When Charlie took his last breath in that moment, about 12 million Charlie Kirks were created.”
Animal shelter, emergency boarding programs strained By Ella Curlin elcurlin@iu.edu
Animal care technician Shelley Cook greeted the dogs by name Sept. 6 as she walked through the kennels at the Bloomington Animal Shelter. “Hi Drama,” Cook said to a brown bully-breed dog in one kennel. “She’s like, ‘I’m bored, can you take me to the pool!’” Due to a rush of activity that day, Cook said she chose to work overtime through her lunch break, as did the other three animal care technicians on staff. In addition to routine animal care, staff juggle animal intake, foster appointments and trial adoptions during the shelter’s public weekend hours from 12-3 p.m. Shelter Director Virgil Sauder said the number of animals coming in has strained the shelter’s finances. In a July Facebook post, the shelter said its dog kennels were over capacity and asked locals to adopt or foster.
The shelter is currently running a matching fundraiser for its medical fund, which goes toward emergency vet bills or medical treatments. The shelter’s total intake has risen every year since it sharply dropped in 2020, reaching 3,328 in 2024, according to city data. Cook started her animal care technician training before the lockdown, and she’s worked at the shelter for nearly six years. After the pandemic, the shelter instituted a waitlist for people looking to surrender their pets and cut its hours from 12-7 to 12-5 p.m. on weekdays. “It’s a sense it’s been good, but in a sense it's been hard also,” Cook said. “It feels like things are busy all the time now.” Sauder said the shelter is at manageable capacity, with about 160 animals in kennels and another 190 in foster homes. He said capacity isn’t an exact number and depends on the species, the maintenance level of the an-
imals and staff availability. Sauder said the shelter is seeing more community members struggle to care for their pets amid rising costs of living and limited housing. “People are trying to figure out how to feed their kids, or, you know, clothe their children, and they have a pet and things have to give,” Sauder said. “And so that's how we end up with a lot of our animals.” When these problems are temporary, pet owners can apply for help from the Monroe County Humane Association’s Crisis Housing Center, which provides boarding for two to four months, according to CHC Outreach Coordinator Liz Austen. The program is intended as a last resort to keep low-income Monroe County residents from permanently losing their animals. Austen said most people who use the center’s services are facing eviction, medical crises, incarceration or domestic violence, or are spending time in rehab for
KATHERINE MANERS | IDS
Puppy Gina Linetti sits in her kennel Sept. 9, 2025, at the Bloomington Animal Shelter. Gina has been in the shelter since Aug. 15.
drug addiction. When Austen joined in 2023, the CHC only kept animals for two weeks, she said. Now the limit is two to four months, so pet owners have time to find housing, employment or go through rehab for drug use. Austen said the CHC has been expanding its capacity since 2023, with the help of
volunteers. But the need for temporary pet housing is still outpacing the CHC’s capacity. Austen said she estimates that for every animal the center takes in, there are two to three it can’t. The CHC also can’t house pets indefinitely, so when pet owners ask for help because their landlord institut-
ed a no-pet policy or added pet fees the tenants can’t afford to pay, Austen said their best option is the shelter. “People are finding it harder to make their ends meet, and so unfortunately, when those things change and people feel stressed in those areas, often animals are the ones that can suffer,” Sauder said.