{"id":244470,"date":"2025-09-21T18:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T18:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/244470\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T18:26:12","slug":"charlie-kirk-funeral-hits-capacity-as-200k-people-turn-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/244470\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Kirk funeral hits capacity as 200K people turn out"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Arizona \u2014 The memorial service for Charlie Kirk<\/a> has reached capacity at State Farm Stadium, authorities said \u2014 as they began turning away some of the 200,000 people who turned out to honor the slain MAGA icon Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Arizona Cardinals stadium, which has a max capacity of 73,000 people, filled up within hours of doors opening at 8 a.m. local time.<\/a><\/p>\n

Additional attendees were sent an overflow arena next door.<\/p>\n

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. is filled for Charlie Kirk\u2019s memorial service on Sept. 21, 2025. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

People queue outside to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The stage is seen ahead of the public memorial service of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Turning Point USA, Kirk\u2019s organization, said 200,000 people registered for the event and cops on scene said they were estimating at least that many people turned out for the service \u2014 which features President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Kirk\u2019s widow Erika<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dressed in their red, white and blue \u201cSunday best\u201d \u2014 as requested by Turning Point USA in advance of the event \u2014 throngs of fans and supporters packed the area outside the stadium while waiting to get in.<\/p>\n

Greg Waters, 71, of Bishop, California, said he listened to Kirk\u2019s podcast every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Drone view shows people as they arrive, wearing \u201cred, white and blue\u201d clothing, as suggested by Turning Point USA, to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025.\u00a0 REUTERS<\/p>\n

A man wearing the same \u201cFreedom\u201d t-shirt Kirk had on at the time of his death seen among other mourners in State Farm Stadium for the funeral. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A man wearing an \u201cI am Charlie Kirk\u201d shirt at the service. Rob Schumacher\/The Republic \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a son to me. We are connected through the blood of Jesus Christ,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem the world has is it doesn\u2019t understand the spiritual connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow live updates from Charlie Kirk\u2019s funeral Sunday in Arizona<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think the more people who turned out shows that he had more impact than people believed. They need to have a bigger stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drone view shows people as they arrive, wearing \u201cred, white and blue\u201d clothing, as suggested by Turning Point USA, to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025.\u00a0 REUTERS<\/p>\n

Children wait, lying on the ground as daylight breaks, to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Police ask the crowd to keep the street clear as people wait in line before a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.\u00a0 AP<\/p>\n

Waters said he walked two miles to get to the stadium in time to line up for the memorial service.<\/p>\n

Some attendees told The Post they arrived as early as 4 a.m. to beat the crowds, while some gave up on the overflowing parking lot and walked as much as two miles from their vehicles.<\/p>\n

Betty Santasiero, of Pinal County, Arizona, 56, came wearing a red \u201cI am Charlie Kirk\u201d shirt.<\/p>\n

People pray ahead of the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

People sing and pray ahead of the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.\u00a0 AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

People gather to attend a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just important to keep an open dialogue especially since I\u2019m from New Jersey\u2026and we have friends on both sides,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

State Farm Stadium, where the NFL\u2019s Arizona Cardinals play, holds as many as 73,000 for mega-events. Organizers expected the crowd to be greater than the capacity, so the Desert Diamond Arena next door, which can hold an additional 20,000, was also reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Arizona \u2014 The memorial service for Charlie Kirk has reached capacity at State Farm Stadium, authorities said…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":244471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5643,19719,69,2066,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-244470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-charlie-kirk","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-jd-vance","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-us-news","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115243698459232352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}