TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Last October Charlie Kirk had a “Save Arizona” rally at the University of Arizona. He invited former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and it brought in a few hundred students and people.
“We need to vote early in this state,” Kirk said last October when campaigning for President Trump.
Lalo Mercado was at that rally. He’s the president of the College Republicans at the U of A and said finding out the news was devastating.
“You get chills. You get goosebumps. It’s one of those things to where you remember where you were,” Mercado described about hearing the news.
Not only did Kirk gain a lot of young people’s support through his conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA, Mercado said, but he also focused on younger people’s priorities.
“As a 22 year old, he’s been a really big fixture in my life in politics,” Mercado said. “He was really at the forefront at trying to get the issues of our generation to be really acknowledged by people that are older like Donald Trump, and so far it’s been successful.”
Kirk’s death, to Mercado, is a reminder that the U.S. should stop violence of any kind.
“Somebody from 200 yards out probably on a roof somewhere, some coward, decided to kill him over words, and so that’s what happened. To get together I think everybody has to agree on no violence as a principle,” he said. “It’s just not permissible. In this country we have a First Amendment that protects speech.”
Meanwhile, Lila Dessen, the vice president of the University of Arizona’s College Democrats, echoed the same sentiments.
“Violence in any sort of way is never justified. I don’t think that anyone for any views should be shot,” she said. “It’s really upsetting no matter where you fall politically, no matter what your thoughts are.”
Meanwhile political leaders on both sides such as Governor Katie Hobbs and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it’s time to turn down the political temperature.
“We need to turn down the heat. I think it should not have gotten that escalated,” Dessen said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
