MEDINA, Ohio — Nearly a week later, and people all over the U.S. are still reeling from the death of 31-year-old Charlie Kirk, including here in Northeast Ohio.
RELATED: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk dies in shooting at Utah Valley University
Kirk was shot Wednesday afternoon while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Kirk was transported to the hospital in critical condition immediately after the shooting and was pronounced dead from his injuries just hours after the shooting took place.
RELATED: Ohio Republicans mourn death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
Kirk's death has sent shock waves throughout the nation as his supporters and those within the Republican party try to figure out how to move forward.
On Sunday, what looked to be close to 1,000 people flooded Medina's Public Square for a vigil in honor of Kirk.
While other events similar to this one have been peaceful, Medina Police were on standby with an operational plan to ensure the safety of attendees and the community.
"I can't stop crying. I don't understand it. I don't understand why I'm so broken," Patty Clark told me. "There was a part of me that did not want to come tonight, and I know that was not what God wanted and he showed me before I got here that I should be here. I feel a lot of it is to encourage us believers to be bold. We need to be bold in our faith to other people."
Clark said she was first introduced to Kirk through social media videos, and what she witnessed impressed her.
"He could quote anything out of the Bible and pertain it to everyday life and bring it in a way that I didn't feel was condemning or hateful or anything like that. I looked up to him," Clark said. "He's just such a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. How can you not admire somebody like that?"
A friend of hers, Amy Feckner, was also in attendance at Sunday's remembrance ceremony.
Feckner told me, "He was just like any of us and he led his life with his faith in God. He wanted other people to know that your life can be that way too. We don't have to be hateful. We don't have to be one side or the other. We can come together and be loving people in a human world, no matter what we are and how we see each other. That's what God and our Bible teaches us. The only person that can ever judge is God Himself."
Feckner believes Kirk was an apostle and served his purpose in this lifetime.
"I truly believe that he did his purpose here. It's what God intended and we can't understand why, but we will build it bigger and better from here on out," Feckner said.
Feckner, while we were chatting, started tearing up because she said she feels as if her religion is constantly being persecuted.
Fecker told me Kirk's death is an example of that, but is more than willing to fight back.
"We are in a place where we can finally make a stand and say we don't want to be persecuted anymore for how we believe," she said. "We don't have to be hateful because you're on one side or the other. It needs to stop. Our government, every level down, needs to say we have got to change. It has to stop."
Both Feckner and Clark said they'll continue to spread and honor Kirk's legacy of strong Christian values.
"We no longer need to be quiet," Feckner said.
Clark added, "It's just been a really rough week. I think it's going to take a lot to get over it, but we have to put that sadness towards being bold. At 31 years old, such a prominent incredible human was just wiped off this Earth. We just can't let the darkness win."
Another supporter of Kirk's who made his stance known is Aidan Haggard. He not only spoke with me prior to Sunday's vigil, but he was also a main speaker during the event.
Haggard said he couldn't believe the news of Kirk's death.
"I thought it was fake," he said. "It didn't seem real, but then I saw the video and then I saw the close-up video. It was just devastating. To be completely honest, I went back to my dorm and I cried."
Haggard has deep roots in Medina, being a 2024 Medina High School graduate and a now-candidate for the district's school board.
"I've really been inspired by Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk. I tried to start a Turning Point chapter at our high school. We were denied by our student council, our principal, and the school board. When we tried to tell them about this, they wouldn't do anything," Haggard said.
Despite the chapter not growing legs while Haggard was a student, he said Kirk's death has created a renewed push by current students.
He's hopeful the district will allow it.
"Charlie Kirk really inspired us. I had the opportunity to meet him in 2022 in Tampa and last summer in Detroit at several of the Turning Point conferences and something that was just unique was the fact that he felt like he was our friend," Haggard described. "The amount of friends that I've gotten in Turning Point chapters and Turning Point events, but the fact that I'm politically involved all because of Turning Point USA and them getting involved and so it's truly a tragedy."
He said that since Kirk's death, Turning Point USA has gained a tremendous amount of traction at schools.
"I think our next step forward as we honor him is to honor him by organizing together to get together with groups in our community to start a Turning Point chapter, to start a Turing Point action hub, and to start a Club America group at your high school if you're able to. I think through all of this we can honor his legacy and then just continue to take up that torch because there now sits an empty microphone, an empty seat, and I think it's our responsibility to help fill it," Haggard said.
From what we saw Sunday night, there was no one who protested the vigil.
A second vigil for Kirk took place in Elyria on Sunday.
