One year after Charlie Kirk's death, Turning Point USA faces an uncertain future

0:00It has been one year since Charlie Kirk was assassinated. The 31-year-old was a leading voice among young conservatives. At his funeral, Kirk's widow, Erica Kirk, spoke about how his work growing the group Turning Point USA and pledged to keep his vision alive. Everything that Turning Point USA built through Charlie's vision and hard work we will make ten times greater through the power of his memory. Now, a year later, as Kirk's young supporters reflect on the state of his movement, some of the questions about his future. And Paris-Alena Moore reports, For many of his followers, the day Charlie Kirk died is seared into memory. I mean, I could tell you exactly where I was. I could tell you exactly the promises I made to myself when it happened. Jacob York is a junior at Olivet Nazarene University, a small Christian college south of Chicago. He was just finishing up baseball practice when he heard the news. Standing in the outfield, he broke down in tears. That night, he started Turning Point chapter. I think I submitted the request to start at chapter six times.

1:01And there were so many requests that it kept saying like, oops, try again later because the system was so overflowed. Students around the country say they felt called to action after Kirk's death. At the University of Alabama, sophomore Anna Hathorn saw that first hand. She says a typical Turning Point meeting on campus drew 20 to 40 people. The first one after Kirk died, 400 showed up. Whenever it got to the point where all the seats were filled and people were wanting to stay and find a place to stand, that's when I felt like what we were doing, like really has an effect on people. Hathorn says that initial surge of interest showed Kirk's impact. It was a moment of unity in a year where the broader conservative movement has faced growing divides, especially over issues like the war in Iran. To Hazel Roberts, an incoming freshman at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, it's a painful reminder of why Kirk's leadership mattered in this movement. That's what Charlie loves about Turning Point and that we could all have different perspectives and not hate each other for it and we can talk about it.

2:02And since Charlie's passing, but there has been a lot of hate from the right. Kirk wielded outside influence inside the party, whether it was senior White House officials or students on campus, his opinions carried weight. It's just like really show that Charlie was the glue that held us together. He was the person that told people, put people in their place saying, you shouldn't hate somebody because of their political beliefs, especially if you're on the right side, especially if you're both fighting for the same thing. Some of the divides go beyond policy, says Alex Birdsong, a junior at Georgia State. The conspiracies revolving around Charlie Kirk's assassination has really tainted the credibility of Turning Point. He's talking about how right-wing influencers like Candace Owens have spread unfounded claims about Kirk's assassination to millions of followers online. And those claims have resonated with some students on campus. We've got people come up to our Candace Owens fan and get mad at us for being Turning Point. And so that's what the climate is. Turning Point acknowledges challenges, but in a statement to NPR, says it's still growing

3:06and calls that quote a testament to Charlie's enduring legacy. Still, for some students, it feels like the momentum they felt in the movement after Kirk's death has fizzled out. Max Williams is a junior at the University of Richmond where he leads the school's Turning Point chapter. Well, initially there was a boost. I think that Charlie not being there, the Trump administration not being popular right now, I think that it is definitely slowed down a bit and maybe even is going in the opposite direction. It's something he reflected on as he made the hours long drive back to school from his home state in Missouri. Part of me is not excited to start all this, especially at this time because of what Trump is doing. Some of the promises Trump has made that he's just completely gone back on. It's just infuriating and you can't defend any of it and I don't even try anymore. He says when he's out talking with students, he's going to focus on the issues people care about and not dwell on Trump. But as Kirk's death has shown, it can prove difficult to separate the man

4:08from the movement, Elena Moore and Pierre News.