Thousands of people came to an event at Virginia Tech Wednesday night which was hosted by Turning Point USA, the organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Originally, Kirk was scheduled to speak at Virginia Tech, before he was killed. In his place, Governor Glenn Youngkin and conservative commentator Megyn Kelly took the stage. Turning Point has a chapter at Virginia Tech, but a lot of the crowd came from off campus.
Bruce Tackett traveled from Patrick County. “Just support the freedom to come up here in peace and not, you know, not be afraid. Not let fear keep somebody at home,” Tackett said.
Many of the supporters said they feel angry at Democrats, and blamed them for Kirk’s death. Some, like Joel Beasley, a freshman at Virginia Western Community College, pointed to Kirk’s faith as the reason they feel more engaged with his politics.
“He was a Christian, a strong Christian. And I consider myself to be the same,” Beasley said.
About 50 students and community members turned out to protest the event.
“I come from a family that immigrated here. I come from also a family that are Appalachian,” said Tristan Reeves, a graduate student in the political science department and one of the organizers of the protest. “I’m a gay, first generation student, and so I come representing not only my identities, but hopefully representing the voices of students across the university that are dismayed by the work of far right populism in the United States.”
Burruss Hall where the event took place holds 3,000 people.
