As the sun dipped below the horizon on Oct. 14, casting crimson across the sky, the stands of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo grounds mirrored the glow – a sea of red in honor of Charlie Kirk, who would have turned 32 that day.
The Farmington arena was filled with hundreds of local members of Turning Point U.S.A. and members of the Republican Party, gathering for a candlelight vigil in memory of Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10 on the campus of Utah State University.
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said, “Sept. 10 was a stunning day to me, like many Americans across our country. … I heard the news. I logged on. I watched what was coming.”
Hebbe spoke about watching the investigation from a law enforcement perspective and being curious what investigators would learn.
“Then, I saw the clip where he actually was shot. It was just horrific there’s just no other way to describe it,” Hebbe said, adding he had many questions going through his mind.
“What are we doing as a country? How did we get to this spot,” Hebbe said, pointing out that Kirk was on college campus to debate, which has been a “foundation of what college is about.”
“You would go; you would debate; you would argue with different people, and now we’re shooting them in front of thousands, in front of his family,” Hebbe said.
He added not only have we “ripped out country down,” but “We question the institutions that have made us great. We turn on each other on almost every topic, and we don’t just debate and argue we vilify.”
The police chief spoke about a recent incident at the New Mexico State Legislature in which State Representative Eleanor Chávez said, “ICE is acting like the KKK,” and “we’ve got to stop our local police, our state police who are collaborating with ICE.” She also compared their actions to “fascism.”
“It isn’t the first time that I’ve heard that rhetoric honestly, but I certainly have tired of it,” Hebbe said. “We wonder why we would struggle to recruit and retain police officers in New Mexico and that’s the language that would come from leaders describing us.”
Hebbe said he doesn’t mind arguing and debating. “I don’t mind the emotion of it,” but “the vilification of Americans doing their job is absolutely intolerable, and that is what Charlie was demonstrating to us through his actions – through going and talking and debating people who didn’t think like him.”
Kirk “always sought peaceful resolve through meaningful debate. He was outstanding at that,” San Juan County Detention Center Administrator Daniel Webb said, adding Kirk was killed “for nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights, for sharing his opinion, his values, and his faith.”
San Juan County Sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Burns said that while there is a “profound loss” in death, he is “thankful that Charlie’s voice of reason and logic reached millions.”
“The greatest tribute we can give to Charlie’s memory is understanding that we can have different beliefs but still be neighbors. We can still be committed to our values and advocate for those beliefs we hold with high regard,” said Burns, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.
“We have watched our nation become a place where division overshadows decency,” Burns said, adding “every generation has faced moments where voices of division have tried to pull us apart.”
He encouraged people to not buy into the division. “If we feed anger, resentment and fear – they grow. But if we feed understanding and respect – those take root instead,” Burns said.
“I am saddened at the state of divide our country is currently in and the violence that has ensued, but I’m also glad for Charlie’s resolve to remain courageous in both his faith and his mission to heal this nation,” said Webb, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.
“Without Charlie Kirk our country would be in a different place right now because he worked so hard to make our country better,” said Ken Christensen, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.
“He was enthusiastic in his support for Donald Trump, and I appreciate that more than I can tell you because now we have a president who is leading instead of following,” Christensen said, adding faith was paramount in Kirk’s life.
“He was unapologetic when he stepped out and said he was Christian, and he followed Jesus,” Christensen said. “One of the things that got me, was he said he wanted heaven to be crowded, and that’s why he worked so hard to change so many hearts and minds in this country.”
Changing minds to share a “common value” was what Hebbe focused on, when he said that value should be coming together as Americans in this nation – “a nation that moves mountains when we want to. A nation that stops wars. A nation that frees hostages when no one else in the world, not another nation in the world could do it,” Hebbe said.
Hebbe pointed out that this nation and the people in it are not perfect, but “we can debate, we can push, we can try and be better, but we are ripping apart the foundation of who we are, which is a great nation of people not necessarily like-minded, but who share a common value that we are Americans.”
Hebbe added, “We should never forget that – that is one of Charlie’s biggest legacies. America is the greatest country in the world.”
