PHOENIX, ARIZONA— President Donald Trump has said he will go to the funeral for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed. The service is set to be place in Phoenix, Arizona. On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance flew to Phoenix with Kirk’s casket and family, after which the announcement was made.
Vance, who was very close to the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, went to Salt Lake City, Utah, to get Kirk’s body. As uniformed officials carried Vance’s casket onto Air Force Two and then flew it to Phoenix, he put his hand on it. It was a sad scene. Usha Vance flew with Kirk’s wife Erika and their two small kids. Sources say that Vance was not supposed to leave the airport in Phoenix. Instead, he was supposed to get back on the plane when the casket was taken off.
President Trump said he will travel to the service, saying, “I think it’s in Arizona, and they’ve asked me to go, so I think I have to do that.” I hear next weekend. The specific date and place are still up in the air, but it’s likely that it will be held near the Turning Point USA offices in Phoenix, where a vigil for Kirk was held on Thursday. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and the Vances are anticipated to be at the ceremony with Kirk’s friends and top Republican leaders.
The investigation into Kirk’s death is still going on, though. The FBI has put out two pictures of a “person of interest” in the shooting at Utah Valley University and is offering a $100,000 prize for information. Authorities think the perpetrator, who is still on the run, ran away after firing a single shot from a powerful bolt-action rifle that has since been found. The gunfire that killed Kirk hit him in the neck while he was answering questions.