Vigil Held for Charlie Kirk
Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, New York University Republicans held a prayer vigil at Washington Square Park on Sunday night.
“We simply needed time to grieve for someone who meant a lot to many of us,” President Ryan Leonard mentioned.
Leonard, a senior, shared with Blaze News that he has been involved with the university’s Republicans since his arrival at NYU. However, he is currently the only president since the semester began.
This experience has certainly felt like a baptism by fire for him and other philosophy majors—quite the intense semester.
Related: Charlie Kirk Harter wins nuclear weapons for the supporters of murdered activists; faces consequences after reported physical attack.
Leonard reported that attendance for the all-night vigil ranged from 50 to 100 people, which he felt was quite decent.
Related: Punk college students were seen laughing about Kirk’s assassination during a campus event honoring the murdered TPUSA founder. Quite a bold move.
Regrettably, around 20 to 30 protesters also showed up, Leonard said.
While those at the vigil attempted to sing the national anthem and pray, the protesters laughed at Kirk and celebrated his murder. They even performed a song reflecting on the sculpture associated with the bullet casing used in the assassination. This was sadly in line with a disturbing trend observed at other colleges, including Texas Tech and Texas State, following the brutal killings of Kirk.
One particularly aggressive protester stood out, according to Leonard. He described this individual as “one of the most vulgar and destructive protesters” present.
This man, equipped with an acoustic guitar, sang songs with “inappropriate” lyrics, as Leonard described. Despite being called “white supremacists and racists,” the university Republicans chose to ignore him.
This, in a way, only fueled the anger of the protesters.
Leonard mentioned that the dark crowd was determined to “bring down our members,” but he felt that the overnight attendees “didn’t engage with him.”
“I was so frustrated; the level of anger I saw in him was just sad. It made me reflect on his condition,” Leonard expressed.
In a short video captured by a university Republican, Leonard is heard telling the protesters, “You’re in a very dark place, but I pray for your salvation.”
The aggressive protester returned with an improvisational song directed towards Leonard, insisting, “I don’t want your salvation! We will continue to plead with you, even when you beg!”
Leonard later told Blaze News that the vigil attendees remained peaceful in response to the hate, yet the protesters escalated their behavior, becoming “crazy and furious” and even making threats.
As tensions grew, Leonard stressed that a crowd was forming around the aggressive protester. Soon, he explained, the vigil participants felt literally “pushed away.”
Eventually, Leonard noted that New York police officers “moved us along.”
Washington Square Park is open to all, allowing easy access from the streets. When questioned about his and his fellow members’ safety—especially after Kirk’s assassination shortly after a Utah Valley University event—Leonard candidly acknowledged that the concern “is definitely in my heart.”
However, he also stated that he and his college Republicans refuse to be intimidated: “It’s pure evil to disrupt a solemn gathering filled with youth in mourning for someone they admired. We will not be silenced.”
Interestingly, Leonard added that the events of that Sunday night “provided an unexpected surge of support for our club that I’ve never seen before. People are encouraging us.”
