The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino was among those who spent around 12 hours at the memorial venue to report on the service for Charlie Kirk.
She sends this dispatch from the ground:
The memorial was part spiritual revival and part political rally, with the program that included Donald Trump and prominent members of the president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement. Mourners obliged the red, white and blue “Sunday best” dress code request, filling the at-capacity domed stadium with stars, stripes and Maga hats.
“We’ve got it from here,” vice-president JD Vance said, memorializing Kirk, his friend and the founder of the youth activist group Turning Point USA as one of the most pre-eminent voices on the American right.
Emotions were raw in the arena as Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, took the stage and inhaled deeply. Dabbing tears from her eyes, she began her remarks to the rapt stadium, Trump among them.
