Conservative luminaries from across Florida gathered at Sarasota’s Robarts Arena on Saturday to eulogize Charlie Kirk, in a memorial that blended messages of optimism and unity with ones to maintain the fight against the political left.
The memorial coincided with its diametric opposite: the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest held in downtown Sarasota — one of thousands across the country on Saturday —about a mile and a half west of Robarts Arena.
Both events drew approximately 3,000 attendees, according to local police.
Who attended the Charlie Kirk tribute in Sarasota?
The arena appeared about three-fifths full, but the crowd was enthusiastic. Attendees included a mix of older political supporters and families with children, all gathered to memorialize Kirk — the 31-year-old conservative activist who was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University in September. Speakers included Florida Senate President-designate Jim Boyd, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, and Sarasota State Representative Fiona McFarland.
Sarasota County Commissioner Teresa Mast spoke about how her colleagues had unanimously supported her motion to rename a portion of Fruitville Road to “Charlie Kirk Memorial Road.” The Manatee County Commission approved a similar measure for 51st Street in the Bradenton area.
The hour-and-a-half-long memorial that began Saturday morning teetered between a tribute to the life and times of Charlie Kirk, the provocative conservative activist known as a warrior in digital media for Christian conservatism, and a political rally for the Republican Party and against Democrats and the left.
The most unifying message came from State Rep. Denny Nix of Charlotte County, who spoke about coming together in the wake of Kirk’s death, and the courage of Ericka Kirk, Charlie’s wife, to say she forgave her husband’s assassin.
“Let’s all take this as a challenge to start that conversation with our neighbors, live our lives better, run for office, vote with conviction, engage with respect, and build a coalition out of consciousness,” Nix said.
However, Sarasota Congressman Greg Steube was less conciliatory and took aim at the “forces of darkness” that clouded the affair: Democrats, communists, secularists, and those who sought to “replace the cross with the rainbow flag.”
“There is no mere cultural shift. It is a demonic assault on the very soul of the United States,” Steube said. “The left wants to slit the throat of our freedom.”
Steube’s forceful speech was followed by the only standing ovation of the day and a “USA” chant from mourners.
Chris Vercelli watched most of the memorial with his daughter, Natalie, atop his shoulders. An evangelical minister with Awaken 941, Vercelli spent the earlier part of the morning proselytizing at the anti-Trump No Kings Protest just a mile east in Sarasota, where he said he encountered the enemy that Charlie Kirk dedicated his life to fight against.
Vercelli pulled up on his phone sections of The Naked Communist, an anti-leftist treatise by the political theorist W. Cleon Skousen, that were read on the floor of the U.S. House in 1963. The minister said he felt the country was waking up, spiritually, to communist infiltration of the churches, schools, and governmental institutes over the past 50 to 60 years; events like Kirk’s death only served to wake up the country.
“I think the best-case scenario is that people rise up with boldness to speak out against what is going on,” Vercelli said. “To be set free by the power of Jesus Christ.”
Christian Casale covers local government for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Email him at ccasale@gannett.com or christiancasale@protonmail.com. Follow the Herald-Tribune on Instagram
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota tribute for Charlie Kirk draws thousands