Turning Point USA to honor Charlie Kirk with empty-chair tribute at Minnesota tour stop
American Comeback Tour proceeds after Kirk's killing, with an empty chair tribute planned at the University of Minnesota.
Turning Point USA will honor slain founder Charlie Kirk with an onstage tribute Monday at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities as the group's American Comeback Tour moves ahead after his killing.
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles told Fox & Friends that he will leave an empty chair on stage for Kirk when the tour stops at the university Monday evening and will dedicate time to pay tribute before opening the floor to discussion. "I will appear tonight. There will be an empty chair on stage. I will give a tribute to Charlie and then we will open up the floor to an open conversation," Knowles said.
Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10 during a tour stop at Utah Valley University. The tour's remaining stops will proceed as planned, with Knowles saying he would perform with many of Kirk's friends. "I’ll be doing it with a lot of Charlie’s friends," Knowles said, adding that Charlie's enemies believed they could silence him, but the tour would go on.
Erika Kirk has publicly forgiven the assassin who killed her husband, saying he acted in the hope of saving young men — a sentiment that the family has framed as forgiveness and resilience in the face of tragedy.
In Glendale, Ariz., President Donald Trump attended a memorial for Kirk and hugged Erika Kirk, calling Charlie one of "America’s greatest patriots" as mourners gathered to remember him.
The Minnesota stop is part of a nationwide slate of engagements for the American Comeback Tour, an effort by Turning Point USA to keep Kirk’s public speaking and organizing work in the public sphere.
