Charlie Kirk’s organization to tailgate, give out shirts at Penn State game vs. Oregon
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- Turning Point USA will tailgate and distribute 5,000 shirts at Penn State.
- The event honors co-founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed earlier this month.
- Republicans and Democrats condemned Kirk’s death and broader political violence.
The organization co-founded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on a college campus earlier this month, announced that it will tailgate Saturday ahead of Penn State football’s game against Oregon while giving out 5,000 white “freedom” T-shirts to students.
Kirk was killed Sept. 10, while wearing one of those T-shirts, during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley State.
Turning Point USA, which Kirk co-founded in 2012, will set up its tailgate at Lot 41, according to a flyer posted by the Centre County Republicans. The Kirk freedom shirts will be given away, free, to students who show their student section tickets.
“It’s going to be a White Out game, so it’s going to look great in the stands,” right-wing political commentator Benny Johnson, who works for Turning Point USA, said in a recent podcast. “And we ... want the student section to be popping with Charlie Kirk freedom shirts for the White Out at Penn State this weekend.
“There’s going to be a Turning Point table, and we’re going to hope to do Charlie proud.”
Kirk last visited Penn State in September 2024 and was reportedly planning a repeat visit for Saturday’s White Out game against Oregon, where most everyone in the stadium wears white. The top-10 matchup serves as a high-profile game — Happy Valley is hosting ESPN’s College GameDay this weekend — and Kirk was a renowned fan of the Oregon Ducks.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning even publicly addressed Kirk’s death, condemning political violence and stressing the importance of respecting differences.
Kirk was a controversial figure. He generated praise from many Republicans for mobilizing young voters and drew disdain from many Democrats for targeting progressive policies and spreading misinformation — such as amplifying false claims that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs in Ohio.
Several hundred Penn State students and community members attended a candlelight vigil for Kirk co-organized by the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA on Sept. 11. He was widely lionized there, but the 31-year-old father of two historically hasn’t been without his critics.
He falsely claimed widespread voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and claimed hydroxychloroquine was “100% effective” against COVID-19, among other false claims. He has also been labeled a misogynist by detractors and has spoken against the LGBTQ+ community, while his supporters often painted him as a courageous leader who simply reflected traditional Christian values.
Regardless, Republicans and Democrats alike widely condemned political violence in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. And, during the vigil at Penn State, speakers such as state Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, reiterated that supporters should fight — but “fight with words.”
Turning Point USA’s Saturday visit to Penn State was made public Thursday during the Fox News podcast “Will Cain Country.” That’s when Benny Johnson unveiled the plan to hand out T-shirts and register people to vote while tailgating near Beaver Stadium.
The exact location of Turning Point USA’s tailgate had not been announced as of early Friday afternoon, but flyers explained it’d be positioned somewhere within Lot 41. That tailgating lot is directly south of Beaver Stadium, between Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and the Bryce Jordan Center.
Beaver Stadium’s capacity this season stands at 106,304. More than 20,000 seats are in the student section.
“In the vein, and in honor of Charlie Kirk, we are going to fight cultural battles, and we are going to win them in an arena that Charlie loved so very much — college football,” Johnson said on “Will Cain Country,” according to an article on Fox News.
