CHICAGO \u2014 President Donald Trump lionized conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a public memorial service Sunday, claiming Kirk pleaded with him to \u201csave Chicago\u201d in one of their last conversations before Kirk was fatally shot.<\/p>\n
As Trump\u2019s 40-minute speech<\/a> at a packed State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, veered into politics, he recalled Kirk \u2014 a native of suburban Arlington Heights \u2014 supported his effort to send swarms of federal agents to Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the last things he said to me is, \u2018Please, sir, save Chicago.\u2019 We are going to do that,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe are going to save Chicago from horrible crime.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirk, founder of\u00a0the influential conservative organization Turning Point USA<\/a>, was fatally shot Sept. 10 during a speaking appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.<\/p>\n In his remarks at Kirk\u2019s memorial, Trump hinted again at deploying the National Guard<\/a> to Chicago, a legally dubious action the president has waffled on for weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have Charlie very much in mind when we go into Chicago, and we\u2019ll get that one straightened out,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n Kirk\u2019s memorial service in front of tens of thousands of mourners drew top-ranking Trump officials who promised to follow through on Kirk\u2019s vision for America, which included hardline beliefs that cities like Chicago were running rampant with crime.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be able to walk Magnificent Mile in Chicago without having to look over my shoulder,\u201d Kirk said on his eponymous podcast last month<\/a>. \u201cWe got a big military. We should be willing to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Friday that federal immigration agents had arrested almost 550 people as part of a ramped-up Chicago-area operation dubbed Operation Midway Blitz<\/a>.<\/p>\n