Students host candlelight vigil honoring victims of political violence

Nearly 50 gathered on Cross Campus following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and different high-profile assaults.

Sophia Stone & Baala Shakya

1:38 am, Sep 15, 2025

Baala Shakya, Photography Editor

Students gathered on Cross Campus Friday evening for a candlelight vigil in honor of victims of political violence.

The vigil, which was announced in an email that circulated that morning, began just after 8 p.m., as roughly a dozen students stood in silence around a heart-shaped arrangement of candles. Over the next hour, the circle grew, and attendees stepped forward to place candles. By 9 p.m., about 50 students had participated in the vigil.

After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at a university in Utah, a coalition of students unaffiliated with specific groups organized a vigil to honor “all those who have fallen victim to political violence in recent times,” an email invitation from William Barbee ’26 read. 

“We actually ended up choosing not to have it officially sponsored by any organization at Yale, in the spirit of both bipartisanship and nonpartisanship,” Kylyn Smith ‘26, an organizer of the event, said. “We thought that by having the vigil not affiliated, we’d be able to open the door for a more thoughtful and cohesive time of prayer and reflection for our students of all political ideologies.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called Kirk’s killing a “political assassination,” and information alerts and graphic movies of the incident unfold rapidly throughout social media Wednesday. The motives of Kirk’s suspected killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah, are nonetheless obscure, although Robinson engraved his bullet casings with phrases from online game slang and the phrases “hey fascist! CATCH!”

The invitation for the vigil circulated Friday morning by way of political and spiritual networks, together with Buckley Program fellows, Yale Political Union leaders, Yale College Republicans and Democrats. Barbee mentioned the outreach was directed in the direction of “politically minded or politically involved” college students.

Barbee mentioned he wished to assist lead the occasion after listening to from mates and friends who wished a delegated house to grieve. Smith mentioned she started contemplating the vigil after the David Network, a conservative-leaning pupil group, requested her whether or not Yale college students had been planning a remembrance.

Smith and Barbee labored with mates related to political and spiritual teams throughout campus to place the occasion collectively. The David Network supplied among the candles, and others had been borrowed from the Yale Chaplain’s Office. Still, Smith emphasised that organizers deliberately selected to not affiliate the vigil with any pupil group, which she described as essential for drawing college students from throughout the political spectrum. 

Smith admitted she fearful earlier than the occasion that it may turn into contentious however mentioned her fears light as soon as the vigil started.

“At the vigil, I was reminded of how truly respectful and open to civil discourse the students at Yale are,” she mentioned. “We were not met with any contention. We were met with respect, even from bystanders who asked what the vigil was for.”

Barbee equally pressured that the vigil was not a celebration of Kirk, pointing towards different situations of political violence which have occurred lately within the United States. 

In June, an individual shot and killed Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, and in addition shot Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his spouse. President Donald Trump survived two failed assassination makes an attempt in 2024, one in July at a Pennsylvania marketing campaign rally and one other in September in Florida.

“This is obviously an immediate reaction to what happened on Wednesday with Charlie Kirk, but the vigil itself is not at all related or tied to celebrating him or his life,” Barbee mentioned. “It’s more so a moment for the Yale community to come together at a time when in the last year, we’ve seen the president have attempted assassinations against him on two separate occasions and lawmakers in states like Minnesota be targeted and killed for bills that they supported.”

Students who attended mentioned the silence of the night was highly effective. 

Abhinay Lingareddy ’26 famous the significance of with the ability to pray and grieve collectively “no matter how evil you think someone is or how great you think someone is.” 

“There is no greater expression of empathy or affirmation of our common humanity. During the vigil, not many words were said but multitudes were conveyed in the silence,” Lingareddy mentioned.

Ethan Powell ’27 echoed the sentiment.

“Political violence, no matter what your viewpoint is, is never acceptable and should never be celebrated,” Powell mentioned. “I just wanted to be with other people.”

Barbee mentioned the occasion served its goal and that the vigil had been “pretty positively” acquired. 

Under Trump’s orders, the flag on the New Haven inexperienced was flown at half-mast till Sunday night in honor of Kirk.