A sunset vigil on the Jersey Shore for assassinated conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk attracted as many as 4,000 people on Sunday, organizers said, and was one of several such events honoring Kirk in the state.
The largest of such events in New Jersey occurred at Windward Beach Park in Brick, a town in the northern half of the Jersey Shore, and featured several Republican public officials speaking as well as prayers for Kirk and his family. Elsewhere in the state, moments of silence and assemblies were organized in Kirk’s name this weekend in Sussex, Burlington, and Bergen counties, the latter a tribute to Kirk by the New Jersey-based Jets NFL team in their home stadium.
The event on Sunday in Brick was reportedly organized by Jersey Coast Emergency News in conjunction with several local Republicans and the Brick Township Republican Club. According to the local radio station NJ 101.5, Jersey Coast Emergency News estimated that 4,000 people attended the event and said 2,000 watched an online livestream; police officials said the in-person crowd was closer to 2,000 people.
The peaceful crowd arrived with candles, flowers, and crosses, honoring Kirk’s public defense of the Christian faith.
Elsewhere in New Jersey, in Southampton, Burlington County, mourners gathered carrying posters honoring Kirk and displaying Christian symbols. Speaking at that event was the founder of the Rutgers chapter of Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Luke Gibbs.
Gibbs told the audience that Kirk was assassinated “for being a good Christian man, for making safe spaces for people like me.”
“He was a kind person, he never smoked, he never drank, he always stuck to the righteous path of the Lord,” Gibbs recalled. “He was a fantastic father, a fantastic friend, a fantastic husband.”
The Turning Point USA chapter at Rutgers University announced Saturday it would have to postpone its event mourning Kirk due to “safety concerns.”
A brief moment of silence at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, also occurred on Sunday before the scheduled football game featuring the hometown Jets.
In Sparta, NJ, residents organized a prayer vigil event for Kirk that served as a platform to air grievances against the town’s mayor, Neill Clark, for refusing to fly the American flag at half-staff as ordered by President Donald Trump following Kirk’s assassination. The event was overwhelmingly peaceful until, in a tense moment, Clark himself appeared at the event and began shouting, berating, and scolding mourners.
Clark had previously explained in remarks to local press that, “absent a directive from the governor, we don’t lower flags to half-staff just because the federal government does so.”
Charlie Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA, a nationwide conservative advocacy organization empowering conservative youth, particularly on college campuses. He was also a prolific political commentator and host of the Charlie Kirk Show, which continued on Monday in his absence with a tribute from Vice President JD Vance. Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday during a public speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in which he was actively engaging in civil debate with students. He was shot fatally in the neck by a man police have identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Reports indicate that Robinson held radical leftist views and was embroiled in a romantic relationship with a transgender man.
The displays of mourning for Kirk are particularly notable in New Jersey following several incidents in which individuals in the state have celebrated Kirk’s killing. One of several social media statements justifying Kirk’s assassination emerged from a New Jersey Army National Guard member on Facebook. Another incident going viral is the case of Lexi Kuenzle, a nurse at Englewood Hospital, who is reportedly taking legal action after being fired for confronting a doctor she claims celebrated Kirk’s death at the hospital.
One of the speakers at the Brick vigil, Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, published a personal statement on his social media warning residents to be alert regarding leftist individuals openly celebrating murder.
Our office sent out the safe, sanitized statement a few days ago that’s supposed be my position on all of this insanity….
Posted by Assemblyman Paul Kanitra on Friday, September 12, 2025
“The past two days, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole myself. I’ve seen thousands of accounts, posts and videos celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death. From all walks of life. Teachers in Ocean County. Business owners in my Legislative District. Doctors. Nurses. First Responders,” Kanitra wrote. “People who hold your life in their hands, shape our kids’ minds, and protect our communities. If you aren’t horrified that pockets of evil exist across all walks of our society and are openly cheering assassination, you aren’t paying attention.”
Kanitra warned that Robinson would soon “get the Luigi Mangione treatment” and urged his followers, “Don’t let it happen. Fight back. I am with you.”
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