An evening vigil in downtown Windsor on Tuesday for slain American conservative activist Charlie Kirk focused heavily on the right-wing firebrand’s promotion of Christian nationalism, with attendees and speakers advocating for Canada to embrace the same values.
“I have a confession to make,” Jeremy Palko, who kicked off the event, told the crowd gathered along the city’s waterfront.
“I feel I need to be straight with you, so here goes: I am a white Christian male who loves God and loves people, and believes wholeheartedly that we need more, much more Christianity in our governments and institutions,” he said to cheers and applause.
The candlelight vigil at Dieppe Gardens took place as the country observed the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, meant to honour Indigenous survivors of the largely church-run residential school system.
The event in Windsor included various speakers and musical performances to memorialize Kirk, an influential figure in U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Kirk, 31, was shot and killed at a university in Utah earlier this month.
A skilled orator, Kirk toured school campuses to debate students, then shared the videos to his popular streaming channels. He was no stranger to controversy, fueling outrage over his stated views on race, women, and guns. His group Turning Point USA worked to engage young U.S. voters in the conservative cause.
Some of that influence has spread north of the border. Kirk’s death sparked memorial events of differing sizes in various cities across the country.
“We’re here in support of a brother in Christ that died for the gospel’s sake and to support his remembrance and his wife and children,” said Mike Bastien, who attended Tuesday night’s event in Windsor. “It was a tragedy that his life was taken so young.”
Bastien said he isn’t sure exactly how he became familiar with Kirk. “We’ve been listening to him for years – probably YouTube and word of mouth, I don’t remember,” he said.
“His main topic was loving Jesus and giving our hearts to him, marriage and support of Israel. We agree with everything.”
Bastien said he’d “absolutely” like to see more of Kirk’s politics in Canada. “I wish we had more government leaders that would align with biblical values.”
A handful of attendees wore orange shirts for Truth and Reconciliation day, and one speaker led the group in a moment of silence.
Still, a few protesters along the sidelines said holding the Kirk vigil on a day meant for Indigenous people was wrong.
“It’s National Truth and Reconciliation Day and this is what people are choosing to do [with] their time — support somebody who’s not even Canadian, first of all, and somebody who is as hateful as he is,” Sierra Hodgson said as she held a sign that read “He doesn’t even go here!” (a reference to the movie Mean Girls).
“It’s unfortunate somebody died, but at the end of the day, he was very hateful,” she said.
Sean Dixon, who stood next to Hodgson holding a sign calling Kirk a Nazi, said he felt Kirk was actually “more of a fascist than a pure Nazi,” but felt the word Nazi “would trigger people.”
Dixon said he also didn’t understand why Canadians would celebrate Kirk in light of his views on guns, especially as mass shootings — including ones involving children — continue at an alarming rate in the U.S.
“He fought for more people to have arms and against gun reform,” Dixon said. “So I do not understand why Canadians that actually have gun reform that keeps us safe would be celebrating somebody who actually fought for more people to get hurt and was a victim of his own rhetoric. It makes no sense.”
Dixon and Hodgson cheered as a person on a bike rode by, loudly proclaiming: “Excuse me, huge flaming lesbian coming through!”
Palko said the event was scheduled for Tuesday to coincide with a vigil happening across the river at Hart Plaza in Detroit. He said the organizers, which he described as grassroots, were also trying to do it as quickly as possible and that Tuesday was the earliest date.
Asked about the protesters and criticism around the date of the event, Palko said, “People are free to do what they choose in Canada.”
He also noted that Truth and Reconciliation was mentioned during the event.
“They were free to have their events as we are free to have our events.”
