Passengers are facing another day of flight delays across Europe, as big airports continue to grapple with the aftermath of a cyber-attack on the company behind the software used for check-in and boarding.
Several of the largest airports in Europe, including London Heathrow, have been trying to restore normal operations over the past few days after an attack on Friday disrupted automatic check-in and boarding software.
The problem stemmed from Collins Aerospace, a software provider that works with several airlines across the world.
The company, which is a subsidiary of the US aerospace and defence company RTX, said on Monday that it was working with four affected airports and airline customers, and was in the final stages of completing the updates needed to restore full functionality.
Airports in Brussels, Dublin and Berlin have also experienced delays. While kiosks and bag-drop machines have been offline, airline staff have instead relied on manual processing.
A spokesperson for Brussels airport said Collins Aerospace had not yet confirmed the system was secure again. On Monday, 40 of its 277 departing flights and 23 of its 277 arriving services were cancelled.
A Heathrow spokesperson said the “vast majority of flights at Heathrow are operating as normal, although check-in and boarding for some flights may take slightly longer than usual”.
They added: “This system is not owned or operated by Heathrow, so while we cannot resolve the IT issue directly, we are supporting airlines and have additional colleagues in the terminals to assist passengers.”
Heathrow said passengers should check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport and to “arrive no earlier than three hours for long-haul flights and two hours for short-haul”.
A spokesperson for Dublin airport said it was not expecting any cancellations on Monday because of the IT problems, but would not rule it out. On Sunday, Aer Lingus said it was “significantly impacted” by the problem.
RTX said on Saturday it was working to fix the problem as soon as possible, and that the incident affected its Muse software.
The attack has highlighted the risks around airports’ reliance on suppliers for critical technology. The European Commission said on Saturday that it was closely monitoring the incident, and that “current signs do not indicate a widespread or severe attack”.
Shares in some airlines fell in early trading on Monday, including the British Airways owner IAG, which fell by 1.2%,while easyJet fell by 1.4% and Wizz Air was off 1.1%.
An independent manager of the triple-zero emergency system has not yet been staffed by the federal government, despite it being a key recommendation of the review into Optus’s last emergency outage.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, said she wanted to “fast track” that process and others rising out of the latest debacle from the maligned telco, but consumer advocacy bodies and the Greens are critical the government has not worked quicker. Calls are growing for Optus to face multimillion-dollar fines even higher than the penalties from a similar incident in 2023.
“The failure from Optus has been deadly, and I don’t think we should be waiting for another review before we do what we know needs to be done,” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The minister should use her powers today, put in place independent oversight of Optus, get the cabinet to approve it and start making sure we regulate this company and this industry properly.”
The former deputy chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Richard Bean was commissioned by the former communications minister Michelle Rowland to probe the November 2023 Optus outage, which left millions without coverage. The second recommendation on his list, delivered to the government in March 2024, was for the government to “establish a Triple Zero custodian, with oversight of and overarching responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Triple Zero ecosystem”.
The government response in April 2024 called this a “priority recommendation”, and recognised “the need for a single organisation with oversight of the Emergency Call Service”, but said further investigation and consultation was needed.
On Monday, Wells said the role had been established inside the communications department, but it is understood that it has not yet been filled, with further legislation still required to fully implement the change.
“That role has actually been established and is operative within my department at the moment. It’s one of the recommendations of the Bean Review that has been implemented but not yet in full,” Wells said.
“One of the things that I’ve been looking at across the weekend is how I can fast track regulatory and legislative relief to make sure that all of these are delivered in full.”
Wells’ office said the role would be fully operational as soon as possible, pending the passage of further legislation in the near future. Asked whether private companies would still deliver triple-zero services, Wells said that would be considered as part of Acma’s ongoing investigation.
“Other telecommunications providers have had Triple Zero outages as well. This isn’t entirely a matter for Optus. So, we are now considering what needs to be done holistically or as part of legislative relief for Australian people,” Wells said.
Carol Bennett, of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said the custodian rules were among the most important recommendations of the Bean review.
“These will ensure there is government oversight of the triple-zero system. It would be an extra safety net to provide public safety assurance. That has not been implemented. We need to see fast-track legislation to ensure it is,” she said.
“This is a failure to implement the Bean report recommendation which state they are obliged to alert emergency services, relevant government agencies and the public at the first opportunity when they become aware the triple-zero service is not working.”
Hanson-Young, the Greens’ communications spokesperson, said the government should more forcefully regulate the telecommunications sector.
“For too long, these big telco companies have relied on self-regulation rather than direct regulation,” she said.
“How many more strikes does this company need?”
The Acma chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, said companies could face up to $19,000 per infringement notice, and court-ordered fines of $250,000 per contravention.
Hanson-Young said the previous $12m fine on Optus for a similar breach in 2023 was not enough, saying penalties should be substantially higher.
“Legislatively, we probably need much stronger penalties and much stronger consequences. That’s why I’m saying the minister could send a very strong message today by delivering a consequence, that these type of services cannot be left in the hands of Optus alone. They’ve clearly failed, and the government needs to intervene.”
The Coalition communications spokesperson, Melissa McIntosh, said Optus’s previous fine “obviously barely scratched the surface”, calling for an independent review rather than an Acma probe.
“Something more needs to be done. It needs to be more than just a fine. Obviously, Optus hasn’t met all of the recommendations from the review,” she told 2GB.
“We’ve had review after review … Something stronger than that needs to happen.”
Poignant records relating to a colliery disaster in the 1930s that lay unseen for decades at the National Archives are being put on display close to the site of the mine in north Wales.
Among the documents at the west London archive are petitions and emotional letters calling for the bodies trapped in the underground explosion at the pit in Gresford to be recovered. Despite the heartfelt entreaties, the vast majority remain there.
A petition protesting against the ‘unnecessary delay’ in recovering the bodies. Photograph: The National Archives
Another document that may trigger anger rather than sorrow is a falsified safety logbook that highlights an attempt to cover up failings in the weeks before the 1934 disaster, in which more than 260 people died.
It is the first time that the National Archives in Kew has offered a display of original documents to a community in this way. The Archives thought it was vital that the voices of the people who lost so much in the catastrophe were heard again in the area where the disaster happened.
Alan Jones, 79, who worked down the mine in the 1960s, said the temporary return of the documents to Wrexham was welcome. “What happened goes deep with everybody in Wrexham,” he said. “We’ve all got a connection.”
Jones’s tai (his grandfather), Josiah, should have been down the mine when disaster struck but he swapped shifts with his cousin, Jabez. Jones said: “Jabez’s body is still entombed there. My grandfather never went back to work – we believe he had survivor’s guilt.”
Another artefact is a notebook with mine air measurements that William Cuffin, assistant surveyor, was told to make up in the aftermath of the explosion to give the impression that crucial safety checks had been done.
In his evidence to police, which was also found in the archive, Cuffin said: “I recorded a number of air measurements. The measurements recorded … were not taken in the pit and are false.”
William Cuffin’s black book of mine air measurements. He later admitted to police that they ‘were not taken in the pit and are false’. Photograph: The National Archives
Jones, who went to view the documents at the National Archive before their transfer to Wrexham, said: “I could see the falsifications straight away. I didn’t know that book existed until now.”
The documents are to be displayed at Wrexham library on Monday and Tuesday. They will then be taken back to Kew, where the public can come into the reading rooms and order them for research.
Also on display are urgent telephone messages to the Mines Inspectorate as the catastrophe unfolded, and records from the inquiry into what happened.
She said she was “stopped in her tracks” when she found exercise books full of the names of people calling for the bodies of loved ones to be recovered. “There were names after names after names,” she said.
Castagnetti highlighted one letter from Margaret Capper, which urged the authorities to recover the body of her brother, John. Capper wrote: “It grieves me terrible to see my mother and father suffering terrible under this heavy burden they have to bear, and the thought of where their loved one is lying is unbearable.”
Castagnetti said: “The voices of the people jumped out and were very moving. I really wanted to try to allow the people of Wrexham to have a closer involvement with the story.”
Franchisees of the high street chain said they were feeling stressed and had suffered from “anxiety” as a result of the decision to cut fees, in research that also indicated they had little trust in Vodafone’s word.
The group of high court claimants – who represent almost 40% of a total Vodafone franchisees – launched a legal case in December alleging Vodafone “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners by slashing commissions to franchisees running the mobile phone brand’s stores.
Details of the seemingly widespread dissatisfaction are recorded in a survey of franchisees conducted during 2020, weeks after the mobile phone group cut fees paid to the small retailers for selling some of its products and services. The reduction in fees followed six months of uncertainty due to the effects on trading of the Covid pandemic.
The survey – which was created by a steering committee of Vodafone franchisees and was modelled on similar questionnaires issued by the British Franchise Association – received 119 responses during September 2020. Vodafone has had a total of 167 franchisees historically.
As part of the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate how strongly they agreed with a series of statements, with a score of one representing that they strongly disagreed, running up to five if they strongly agreed. Franchisees said they “trusted Vodafone’s word” with a score of 1.75, and gave a mark of 1.67 to the statement that they felt “truly valued” as a franchisee by the company.
When franchisees were asked for comments, their criticism appeared even harsher. In a section of the survey results marked “wellbeing”, 78 franchisees left comments, with the overwhelming majority being negative and many directly accusing Vodafone of negatively affecting their mental health and family life.
“My mental health has become very poor as I am suffering from anxiety and spells of depression,” said one. Another commented: “My mental health has suffered, the stress and worry of not hitting overheads is giving me anxiety. I think it’s disgraceful that I feel the constant threat of losing my savings, home and livelihood.”
A third franchisee responded: “I struggle to sleep and suffer panic attacks and anxiety brought on by the current changes.” A fourth said: “I am ill from stress and it has affected my home life.”
The comments chimed with many of the statements made by former Vodafone franchisees since the group of 62 launched the high court claim against the company in December.
Several franchisees have told the Guardian that the pressure exerted on them by Vodafone executives triggered suicidal thoughts, while many said they feared losing their livelihoods, homes or life savings after running up personal debts of more than £100,000.
MPs have compared some aspects of the Vodafone dispute to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
A spokesperson for Vodafone said: “We are sorry to any franchisee who has had a difficult experience. At Vodafone UK we encourage anyone to raise issues in the knowledge they will be taken seriously, and we always seek to resolve any issues raised. We continue to run a successful franchise operation, and many of our existing franchisees have expanded their business with us by taking on additional stores.”
The company has recently launched a fourth investigation into the historical conduct within its franchising division and says it “strongly refutes” the allegations in the high court claim, which it says it will defend and describes as part of a “commercial dispute”.
Angelina Jolie has said “I don’t recognise my country” amid the threats to free speech in the US, saying “anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous”.
“It is a very difficult question,” Jolie replied. “I love my country, but at this time, I don’t recognise my country. I’ve always lived internationally, my family is international, my friends, my life.
“My worldview is equal, united and international. Anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous.”
She added: “These are such serious times that we have to be careful not to say things casually. These are very, very heavy times we are living in together.”
While Jolie didn’t name the late night host, her comments fell days after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended “indefinitely” by ABC, which is owned by Disney. Kimmel was suspended after Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, criticised comments made by the late-night host about the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting, including: “The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Jolie has appeared in several Disney projects, including Maleficent and its sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and as the superhero Thena in The Eternals, part of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Several Disney stars and prominent figures including Olivia Rodrigo, Pedro Pascal and Mark Ruffalo have voiced dissent and criticised the decision to suspend Kimmel, which the New York Times reported was made by Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney’s head of television Dana Walden.
Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the MCU, wrote on Threads that Disney’s stock will “go down a lot further if they cancel” Kimmel’s show permanently.
“Disney does not want to be the ones that broke America,” Ruffalo wrote.
Mark Ruffalo has said the US government ‘is now suppressing the freedom of speech’. Photograph: Darren Eagles/Getty Images
And on Sunday, while speaking on a video for the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest planned for 18 October, Ruffalo said: “It is the US government that is now suppressing the freedom of speech. It is the US government, not your neighbours, not someone on social media. It is the government doing it now.”
“And that’s where we all have to come together, because authoritarian regimes, fascist regimes have to degrade our freedoms more and more over time until we’re living the smallest, the most frightened, the most secretive lives. Think of yourselves living under the Taliban, because that’s where we’re headed,” the actor added.
Pedro Pascal, who starred in Disney’s Fantastic Four: First Steps this year and will appear in two major Disney films next year (The Mandalorian and Grogu and Avengers: Doomsday), wrote on Instagram that he is “standing with” Kimmel, adding: “Defend #FreeSpeech Defend #DEMOCRACY.”
Tatiana Maslany, who plays She-Hulk in the MCU, called for her followers on Instagram to “cancel” their Disney+ subscriptions, while Damon Lindelof, a Hollywood showrunner and creator of the ABC series Lost, pledged he would not to work with Disney+ again unless it put Kimmel back on the air.
“I was shocked, saddened and infuriated by yesterday’s suspension and look forward to it being lifted soon. If it isn’t, I can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it,” Lindelof wrote on Instagram.
Olivia Rodrigo, who rose to fame on the Disney shows Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, wrote that she was “so upset over this blatant censorship and abuse of power” and that she stood with Kimmel.
And in a column for Deadline, Dan Gilroy, who won an Emmy last week for his writing on the Disney+ show Andor, wrote of seeing parallels between the show’s depiction of a “fascist takeover” and Trump’s America.
“Donald Trump’s tools of governance, coercion and intimidation, have found focus on Hollywood,” Gilroy wrote. “Faced with a social media firestorm, fear, and an FCC head threatening ‘they can do this the easy way or hard way,’ Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel for speaking his mind.”
Hours before the sun rose over the Arizona desert, tens of thousands of mourners snaked through the Valley toward the State Farm stadium in Glendale – where the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was lionized as a “prophet” for the streaming era and a defender of free speech, martyred in the line of duty.
The memorial was part spiritual revival and part political rally, with a program that included Donald Trump and prominent members of the president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement. Mourners obliged the red, white and blue “Sunday best” dress code, filling the at-capacity venue with stars, stripes and Maga hats.
“We’ve got it from here,” said vice-president JD Vance, memorializing Kirk, his friend and the founder of the youth activist group Turning Point USA, as one of the most pre-eminent voices on the American right.
Inside the domed stadium, emotions were already raw when Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, took the stage. She inhaled deeply and looked Heavenward then dabbed tears from her eyes and began her remarks before a rapt audience, Trump among them.
She said her husband’s work was devoted to saving the “lost boys of the west” who lack direction and meaning, including the 22-year-old suspect charged with his murder. “That man,” she said, her chest heaving. “I forgive him.” A tearful crowd rose to its feet in sustained applause as Kirk cast her eyes upward.
Charlie Kirk memorial melds religious revival and political rally – video
A political widow in an instant, Kirk will succeed her husband as the chief executive of the political movement he founded. “I will make you proud,” she said.
Her words marked the emotional crest of an hours-long service that began with Christian worship songs and ended with a live performance by Lee Greenwood of God Bless the USA – and a speech from the president to a “nation in mourning”. “America loved Charlie Kirk,” Trump said, admiring the 31-year-old’s ability to “always draw a crowd”.
As the afternoon wore on, the speeches became sharper and more political – a battle cry that implored the government officials present to be aggressive in “wielding the sword against evil”. There were only a handful of explicit references to Democrats and the left – but many speeches mixed personal remembrances of Kirk with a searing vilification of his ideological opponents.
“To those trying to incite violence against us, those trying to foment hatred against us, what do you have? You have nothing,” said Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, his voice rising with indignation.
“You are nothing. You are wickedness. You are jealousy, you are envy, you are hatred. You are nothing. You can build nothing. You can produce nothing. You can create nothing. We are the ones who build.”
Prosecutors have said Kirk was killed by a lone gunman, Tyler Robinson, who has been charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. While authorities have not revealed a clear motive for the shooting, prosecutors say texts from Robinson indicated he had enough of Kirk’s “hatred”.
“We are all Charlie Kirk now,” said Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who began her political career helping to “battle the socialist indoctrination on college campuses” as Turning Point USA’s national Hispanic outreach director.
Before the memorial began, conservative media personalities and influencers circulated in the VIP section of the stadium. Colorado congresswoman Laura Boebert, wearing a blue blazer, mingled with Kyle Rittenhouse, who became a cause célèbre on the right after being acquitted of fatally shooting two men during protests against a police killing in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“Honored to be here,” tweeted billionaire businessman and former Trump administration adviser Elon Musk. Musk was seated next to Trump, a reunification Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said Kirk had wanted “so badly”.
Erika Kirk speaks at the event. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
Eddie Wallin crossed the Atlantic to attend Kirk’s memorial. His journey took him from Sweden to Texas, where he rented a car and drove 17 hours to reach Glendale, subsisting on bananas and other provisions that he could eat behind the wheel.
Wearing a white shirt emblazoned with the word “Freedom”, Wallin recalled meeting Kirk in 2019, during a trip to Texas. He said Kirk, smiling, told him he never expected to meet a Swedish conservative. Six years later, Wallin said he encountered Kirk again during the 2024 presidential election won by Trump and was surprised the organizer, by then a hugely prominent figure in Maga politics, remembered him.
“After so many years, he remembered me,” Wallin said. “I will remember him for my whole life.”
Friends and colleagues shared personal anecdotes, depicting Kirk as a tireless promoter of conservative cultural values and a “Maga warrior” who encouraged those he loved to get married and have “millions of kids”.
Turning Point USA staff described Kirk’s journey from a teenager with an “idea and a folding table” into the leader of one of the most influential conservative youth movements of the modern era. One suggested Kirk was having “heavenly Fomo” – fear of missing out – looking down on the event, the largest in the organization’s history. The memorial, with Super-Bowl level security at the stadium where Taylor Swift launched her historic Eras tour, was pulled together in just 10 days.
The stage bore stamps of a Turning Point production: columns of sparklers flared, red lights blinked and two large American flags featured prominently, atop the TV screens that reflected the program to the audience.
Mike McCoy, Kirk’s former chief of staff, quoted philosopher Soren Kierkegaard: “The martyr dies and his rule has just begun.” The audience roared.
Several speakers, including Trump, spoke of their shock at learning that Kirk had been fatally shot. Frank Turek was there on the Utah Valley University campus, standing feet from Kirk when he was struck by a single bullet. Turek recalled the harrowing minutes that followed, including a struggle to pull Kirk’s 6ft 5in frame into a car as medics performed first aid. “His face was looking at mine but he wasn’t looking at me,” Turek said. “He was looking past me, right into eternity.”
Long before the speaking program began, mourners wiped their eyes, swayed to the music, their arms raised in worship. Parents brought young children – even babies – to the memorial. One father padded the lining of his jacket with diapers, as no bags were allowed under the rigorous security in place for the event.
Near one of the entrance’s, Turning Point Action registered voters and handed out information to students interested in starting new chapters on their high school or college campuses – a political movement Erika Kirk vowed would grow “10 times greater through the power of his memory”.
Several stands sold T-shirts with a sketch of Kirk and the text, “This is our turning point.”
Many supporters and speakers vowed to carry on Kirk’s work.
Jeffrey Barke, a physician with a large online following, came with a group of friends from Orange county, California, on what he called a “pilgrimage of sorts” to honor Charlie Kirk’s legacy.
“What you’re seeing here is not just a tribute to his movement, you’re seeing a revival of his message: faith, family, freedom,” Barke said, gesturing to the crowd of supporters. Though only 31, Kirk left a lasting spiritual and political legacy, Barke said.
“I think every one of us needs to be a bit more uncomfortable than we’re used to in spreading Charlie’s message,” he said, pledging to use his own platform and social media presence to do so.
Christina Sawick, wearing a “Trump was right about everything” hat, said she was inspired by the attendance to pay tribute to Kirk, whom she had followed since 2016. On Sunday, she left her home in Mesa at 3am to attend the service. Sawick said the country seems to have reached a turning point, and she hopes Americans will follow Kirk’s legacy.
“I want people to get behind our president,” she said. “And that there’s nothing wrong with making America great again.”
The federal government has promised Optus will “suffer significant consequences” after multiple deaths were recorded during the telco’s triple zero outage, with major financial penalties likely.
The communications regulator said it wasn’t informed of the outage by Optus until hours after it had been resolved – and that the company had provided “inaccurate” information.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Optus’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable” and “action” would be taken.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, condemned the company for having “failed the Australian people”.
“They can expect to suffer significant consequences as a result,” Wells said on Monday.
The Optus chief executive, Stephen Rue, admitted on Friday that a network upgrade – which prevented people from making triple zero calls the previous day – affected up to 600 households in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
It was revealed on Sunday that the outage also affected parts of New South Wales. Welfare checks on affected callers later found two people in South Australia and one in Perth had died during the failure.
An eight-week-old boy from SA was also among the deaths authorities initially linked to the fault – but police now believed the outage was “unlikely to have contributed to the death”.
Wells criticised Optus for the network failure and the company’s handling of the crisis. During a press conference with Nerida O’Loughlin, the chair of the Australian Communications Media Authority (Acma), Wells pledged a comprehensive investigation and response.
“We will be considered about our response, but there will be consequences for [Optus] and the broader telecommunications sector. Optus will be held accountable for this failure. They and all providers have no excuses here,” she said.
“They must now work with government and Acma to make their systems better.”
Wells did not elaborate on what consequences could follow, but O’Loughlin said Acma’s powers extended to financial rather than criminal penalties.
O’Loughlin said Acma’s investigation would investigate whether Optus had properly informed customers of the incident. There were federal requirements that providers had facilities to ensure emergency calls were connected, she said.
Optus was fined $12m for similar failures in 2023.
“We didn’t expect to be here again so soon, less than two years after that breach,” O’Loughlin said on Monday.
Minister for communications Anika Wells. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Wells said Optus emailed her department on Thursday afternoon to advise that 10 calls were affected, but subsequently “didn’t hear anything until 3.40pm on Friday afternoon”.
Then, the government was told 100 triple zero calls had been affected, with notification soon after that the issue had grown to 600 calls involving several deaths.
O’Loughlin said Acma wasn’t notified “at all until the outage was resolved” – despite the requirement that stakeholders and regulators be advised immediately.
Wells suggested Optus had not properly implemented its obligations after the previous triple zero outage. The minister said she had expressed her “unbelievable disappointment” to Rue.
“Despite the fact that there has been an independent investigation into the outages of triple zero calls and what needs to be done, on the face of it, there has been ineffective implementation of the recommendations by Optus,” Wells said.
Speaking in New York City, Albanese said the government would let investigations run their course, but he would be “surprised” if Rue wasn’t considering his position as CEO.
“Optus’s behaviour is completely unacceptable – we have made that very clear. There’ll be a proper investigation by the authorities and the government has action at its disposal,” the prime minister said.
“What we want is to ensure that something like this shouldn’t happen. Optus has obligations as to other communications companies and quite clearly … they haven’t fulfilled the obligations that they have.”
Rue addressed reporters on Sunday and said the company had put in place compulsory escalation processes for when triple zero outages were reported.
Optus was unaware of the outage for emergency calls until being notified by a customer at about 1.30pm on Thursday, Rue said.
The update was cancelled and access to triple zero was restored after 13 hours.
Donald Trump told a crowd of thousands that he “hates” his opponents at a public memorial to honor the rightwing youth organizer Charlie Kirk, even after Kirk’s widow said she forgives the man charged with fatally shooting her husband during an event at a Utah college.
Tens of thousands gathered at the event in Arizona on Sunday, with the president giving the last of more than two dozen speeches, after emotional remarks from Kirk’s widow, Erika, and eulogies from the vice-president, JD Vance, four cabinet members and other senior White House officials, a reflection of the murdered activist’s deep imprint on the president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement.
At one point, Trump mentioned that, shortly before he died, Kirk told a staff member he was not afraid of students who disagreed with him in the crowd at Utah Valley University. “I’m not here to fight them – I want them to know them and love them,” Trump quoted Kirk as saying. “In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about who Charlie Kirk truly was.”
“He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them,” Trump said, before breaking from his prepared remarks to add: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry.”
Trump’s speech was an awkward mix of eulogy and campaign speech, during which he frequently veered away from reading somber remarks about Kirk’s life and violent death to make offhand comments and jokes.
President Donald Trump, seen on a stadium screen, speaks at the memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Photograph: John Locher/AP
He mentioned his use of federal forces to police cities and took a moment to promote an announcement at the White House on Monday. “I think we found an answer to autism. How about that? Autism: tomorrow we are going to be talking in the Oval Office in the White House about autism,” the president said.
Trump also claimed Kirk had urged him to dispatch federal troops to Chicago. “One of the last things he said to me was ‘Please sir, save Chicago’. And we’re going to do that, we’re going to save Chicago, from horrible crime.”
At the end of his remarks, after calling Erika Kirk back on stage, Trump acted more like he was at a rally than a memorial, mouthing the words to America the Beautiful in a comic manner and swaying side to side.
“They tried to silence my friend Charlie Kirk, but today we speak with Charlie and for Charlie louder than ever,” the vice-president said. “The evil murderer who took Charlie from us expected us to have a funeral today – and instead, my friends, we have had a revival and celebration of Charlie Kirk and of his Lord Jesus Christ.”
Vance also argued that Kirk, known for engaging with students, combined the traditions of Socrates and Christianity. “He was Athens and Jerusalem; the city of reason and the city of God in one person”, Vance said.
Erika Kirk also stressed what she called the inspiration Kirk’s murder had given to his supporters to embrace Christianity. “After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting,” Kirk said, as applause swelled from the crowd, welcoming the implied contrast to the upheaval following the murders of George Floyd or Martin Luther King Jr. “We saw revival,” she said.
“This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade,” Kirk said. “We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives.”
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she added. “The answer we know from the Gospel is love, and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Donald Trump Jr also described Kirk as a martyr. “Charlie joined a long line of courageous men and women who were murdered for what they believe,” he said.
Trump Jr recounted traveling with Kirk on college campuses and receiving threats to their safety. “We went out there anyway, without fear. Charlie led the way. His message was clear then, and his message is clear now, we won’t back down,” he said.
Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser, pledged to finish Kirk’s life’s work.
“You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk,” Miller said. “You have made him immortal. You have immortalized Charlie Kirk, and now millions will carry on his legacy.”
“To our enemies. You have nothing to give. You have nothing to offer. You have nothing to share but bitterness. We have beauty. We have light. We have goodness. We have determination. We have vision. We have strength.”
The memorial service was being held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a 63,000-seat home of the Arizona Cardinals football team and the venue where Taylor Swift launched her Eras tour.
The event mixed political rhetoric with Christian evangelism. Thousands of people wearing red, white and blue poured into the stadium and lines snaked several blocks before sunrise Sunday.
People hold up Turning Point signs as they gather on the day of Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters
Jeffrey Barke, a physician with a large online following, went to the stadium with a group of friends from Orange county, California, on what he called a “pilgrimage of sorts” to honor Kirk’s life and legacy. He pledged to use own platform to aid in spreading “Charlie’s message”.
Christina Sawick, wearing a “Trump was right about everything” hat, said she had been watching and listening to Kirk since 2016. On Sunday, she left her home in Mesa at 3am to attend his memorial service.
She said she appreciated Kirk’s willingness to debate anyone regardless of their politics or background. “He didn’t sugarcoat anything,” she said. “He just wanted to be heard and he wanted everybody to be heard.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio praised Kirk’s impact on young men. “He sought to engage those he disagreed with, because he understood that we were not created to isolate ourselves from one another, but to engage,” Rubio said.
A massive security presence, led by the US Secret Service, was in place, with the event expected to receive security on par with the Super Bowl. A man armed with a gun and a knife, with inactive law enforcement credentials and amid claims he was providing private security, was detained on Saturday at the venue.
A spokesperson for Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization said the man was doing “advance security for a known guest” but it was not properly coordinated with the Secret Service or Turning Point. The spokesperson also said it was not believed the man was “attempting anything nefarious”.
Americans are grappling with the killing and complicated legacy of the 31-year-old conservative “youth whisperer”, Trump ally and podcasting provocateur, who was shot and killed on 10 September in what prosecutors have labeled political violence – and which has deepened fears about the trajectory of a profoundly divided nation.
Kirk was struck by a single bullet as he spoke before a crowd of 3,000 mostly college students at Utah Valley University, the first stop on his national “American Comeback” campus tour. Utah prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson, 22, with capital murder in Kirk’s killing and said they will seek the death penalty.
In the wake of Kirk’s death, Trump and his advisers have sought to cast blame on Democrats, even though elected leaders and party officials have uniformly condemned the killing. Officials have said they believe the suspect acted alone.
Prosecutors have said they suspect Robinson killed Kirk because he personally had become sick of what he perceived to be Kirk’s “hatred”. But, citing three sources familiar with the investigation into Kirk’s killing, NBC reported Saturday that federal authorities have not found any link between Robinson and leftwing groups, on which the Trump administration has threatened to crack down after the deadly shooting.
People attend a memorial for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Fueled by an outpouring of grief and rage on the right, conservatives are demanding punishment for those who have mocked or disparaged Kirk – a campaign of retribution critics say mirrors the very cancel culture he railed against. Since his death, teachers, students, journalists and the late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel have been fired, suspended or disciplined over comments related to Kirk or his death, in a clampdown that free-speech advocates, democracy scholars and others say amounts to government censorship.
JD Vance went into confessional mode. “I was telling somebody backstage that I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public,” he said. “As much as I love the Lord, and as much as it was an important part of my life, I have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life.”
The crowd at rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk’s memorial service at a football stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday rose to its feet and roared its approval.
The apparent ad lib by the US vice-president showed his ability to read the room. The service had put Kirk’s Christian faith front and centre. Vance’s moment of self-revelation could also have political utility if and when he runs to succeed Donald Trump as president in 2028.
Trump, a thrice-married New Yorker with little knowledge of scripture, secured the evangelical vote with promises that included a pliant supreme court. Candidate Vance would have to win them all over again, and knows the new generation of young Christians who idolised Kirk would be a good start.
The 41-year-old former Ohio senator has already taken a lead role in mobilising Kirk’s online army at Turning Point USA, likely to be a crucial part of the next Republican electoral coalition, and seeking to claim his mantle as “youth whisperer”.
After Kirk was shot dead at an event in Utah, Vance posted a heartfelt tribute on social media, describing him as “true friend” who had advocated for him to be Trump’s running mate.
He personally escorted Kirk’s casket from Utah to Arizona on the vice presidential plane Air Force Two. After disembarking, his wife Usha held hands with Kirk’s widow Erika – both dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses – as Vance followed dutifully behind.
Vance then guest-hosted Kirk’s podcast from his ceremonial office and demanded that anyone caught celebrating the murder be named and shamed. “Hell, call their employer,” he said.
Some of this may be the genuine response of a friend. But it is also impossible to ignore Vance’s ruthless ambition. The author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, drawing on his upbringing in Ohio and Kentucky, only joined the Senate in 2023 and is now vice-president.
In her new book, 107 Days, former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris described Vance as a “shape-shifter” and “a shifty guy” who, in last year’s vice presidential debate against Tim Walz, “sane-washed the crazy” and played the role of “a mild-mannered, aw-shucks Appalachian”.
Vance’s presidential campaign for 2028 is already said to be in “soft launch” mode as he positions himself as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He has reportedly expressed a desire for Susie Wiles, the White House of chief staff, to manage his potential campaign.
His most overt move came in March, when he was appointed finance chair of the Republican National Committee – a role unprecedented for a sitting vice-president. It positions him at the nexus of Republican money, allowing frequent interactions with mega-donors.
Vance has methodically built a profile that blends Trump’s populist bombast with a sharper focus on economic nationalism and cultural warfare. Vance is sceptical of foreign intervention in Ukraine and elsewhere. He bared his teeth in February when, sitting in the Oval Office, he berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for showing insufficient gratitude to Trump.
His media strategy builds on Trump’s “podcast election” playbook, emphasising unfiltered platforms to rally the base. His appearance on the memorial Charlie Kirk Show demonstrated a merger of Maga’s grassroots fervour with Turning Point’s youth-focused activism – a partnership likely to define the party’s outreach strategy in future elections.
Vance’s willingness to engage critics in online debate has an echo of Kirk’s go-everywhere, talk-to-anyone approach. When US forces recently struck a vessel allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, Vance wrote on X: “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military.”
Brian Krassenstein, a podcaster and Trump critic, responded to Vance’s post by stating: “Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.” Vance shot back “I don’t give a shit what you call it.” (Rand Paul, a Republican senator, responded: “What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”)
Charlie Sykes, a political commentator and author of How the Right Lost Its Mind, says: “The only question I have is whether JD Vance wants to be the heir apparent to Donald Trump or to Charlie Kirk.
“The line between people wanting to be influential podcasters and real political power is getting somewhat shaky. Apparently JD Vance has decided his route to power is to essentially try to fill Charlie Kirk’s shoes and engage in his kind of rhetoric.”
Vance’s lead in hypothetical 2028 Republican primary polls is commanding, a testament to his proximity to Trump. A June 2025 Emerson College Polling survey of 416 likely Republican primary voters found Vance at 46% support, dwarfing secretary of state Marco Rubio (12%) and Florida governor Ron DeSantis (9%).
His performance on Sunday will have done no harm, especially with the religious right. He referenced God 10 times, spoke of “the truth that Jesus Christ was the king of kings” and said of Kirk “He would tell me to pray for my friends, but also for my enemies. He would tell me to put on the full armour of God and get back to work.”
His white shirt, red tie and blue suit were all the same shade as Trump’s, and he delivered his remarks from a lectern with the presidential seal. It was a glimpse of a possible future featuring an occupant of the White House who could prove even more hard-edged, pitiless and authoritarian than Trump himself.
Sykes adds: “I would never describe Trump as more moderate but I do think that JD Vance’s rhetoric could be a warning that, if you think things are bad, they can possibly get even worse.”
During an emotional address at his public memorial in Glendale, Arizona, the widow of rightwing youth organizer Charlie Kirk said she forgives the man charged with killing her husband.
“My husband, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” Kirk said, before an at-capacity crowd. “That man, that young man – I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.”
Those in the stadium rose to their feet in applause.
Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson, 22, of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk on 10 September at Utah Valley University (UVU). Robinson, of Utah, could face the death penalty if convicted.
Authorities have said Robinson texted his partner after the shooting that he had had enough of Kirk’s “hatred”. In an interview with the New York Times published on Sunday, Erika Kirk said she had been asked whether she wants to see the suspect face the death penalty.
She remarked: “I’ll be honest. I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger.
“Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like, ‘Uh, [an] eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’ And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?”
In her remarks at State Farm Stadium, Erika Kirk vowed to continue her husband’s work as the newly appointed leader of the group he founded, Turning Point USA.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said. “The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love – love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Kirk was shot dead during the first stop on his “American Comeback” tour of college campuses. His death has sparked a fierce political debate about the power of words, decency, rising violence and free speech.
Many prominent conservatives have sought to cast blame on the left for Kirk’s assassination. Several speakers, including the president, demonized Democrats and accused them of fomenting violence, even though elected officials and party leaders condemned the murder.
“I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,” Donald Trump said in his remarks at the memorial. The president added: “I’m sorry, Erika.”
Kirk’s killing was the latest act of political violence that has targeted Republicans and Democrats in recent years.
The hours-long service included remarks from several members of Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, including the vice-president JD Vance, who was a close personal friend of Kirk’s.
