Attendees gathered in front of the steps of the West Hartford Town Hall auditorium on Monday evening for the candlelight vigil.

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ted Newton. Photos by Ronni Newton

More than 100 people attended a vigil for slain conservative political activist Charlie Kirk in front of Town Hall Monday evening. While the weather was beautiful, the mood of the gathering was both somber and cautiously hopeful, and largely non-political.

Hosted by the West Hartford Republican Town Committee, the vigil featured speakers from the Committee, the state Republican party, and several candidates for the November election for Town Council.

RTC Chair Shawn Daly. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Shawn Daly, chairman of the West Hartford RTC, kicked off the event with an invocation. Remarking that “light is stronger, hope is stronger, and truth will always endure,” Daly noted Kirk challenged us to “reach across divides and see the shared dignity in one another.”

Pausing to thank the West Hartford Police for their presence at the vigil and commitment to public safety, Daly continued, “Yes – we reach across the aisle, we show kindness, we build bridges, we listen. But let us never forget that moral clarity matters, family matters, faith matters. hard work and accountability mattes, freedom matters. These are not just Republican values. They’re American values.”

Connecticut GOP Vice Chair Mary Ann Turner. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Daly then introduced Mary Ann Turner, vice chair of the state Republican party. Said Turner, “We are gathered here tonight with heavy hearts, because we’ve lost something, not just a man, and not just a friend, but a piece of what makes us whole. He believed that one person willing to speak out, willing to show up, could move people and he proved it. And now, the responsibility is ours. We don’t have to go to the streets in anger. We don’t have to shout for the sake of shouting. What we do need to do is come together as a collective. Steady, united, and clear.”

Dr. Amy Chai, declared Republican candidate for Congress in the 1st District. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Turner passed the mic to Dr. Amy Chai, who indicated she’s a Republican candidate for Connecticut’s 1st congressional district. Said Chai: “What wins people’s hearts is connection. We have to connect with people. Maybe it’s your heart that matters. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light. And what we need to do right now is to be the light that the world needs to see and don’t be afraid.”

Four of the Republican candidates for Town Council attended the vigil, and each also spoke. Dr. Gayle Harris, currently a Board of Education member, sympathized with Kirk’s mother. “I, too, have a 31-year-old son. Could he be gunned down for something that he says or thinks? What has happened to us as Americans that we feel that the best way to handle our differences is to gun down those we don’t agree with? What has happened to our sense of connection and community? At the end of the day, we are all in this together, and we all need to take responsibility to fix the current climate, which allows this type of horror to occur. But we each have the ability to look in the mirror and decide how we can change the tone and the climate in our country and even in our town,” she said.

Dr. Gayle Harris. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

“As a current Board of Education member, I have sat at the board table many times and vehemently disagreed with others, but I respect those who would disagree with me, and I am opening to listening to other points of view,” said Harris. When she spoke at Hall High School’s graduation earlier this year, she said, “My message was go out and talk to your neighbors and friends. Be willing to hear other points of view, but most importantly, take care of each other.”

Ben Lewis. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Ben Lewis, who is a first-time candidate for Town Council, said, “Debate is a pillar of our history and should be the heartbeat of our future. Debate [allows] for common ground to be found among adversaries. Political discourse shows our nation that no matter how much we disagree, we can still come together on a stage and respect each other with conversation. We must as a community and as a country, be able to unite under the fact that political violence has never and will never be acceptable in any form.”

Lewis continued,“I ask each and every person here to take a step back from the political noise that we are consumed with daily and remember that we are all citizens of the same incredible country. We are better than political violence. We are better than spreading misinformation. We are better than demonizing our peers.”

John Lyons. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

John Lyons, another first-time candidate, remarked, “We do need to come together as a nation, and this vigil is a great first step.”

Lyons also read remarks prepared by Dr. Jason Wang, also a Town Council candidate, who was unable to attend the vigil. “Although many of us are approaching these issues from different angles, the American democratic process exists to give voice to those concerns and to find solutions. Sometimes the process is painful, but it must and will continue. It will not be silenced by bullets. When we stop getting to know our fellow Americans and stop talking to one another, when we lose sight of our common sense of purpose, we enter a dark place. This process is being supercharged by social media, which amplifies rage and tribalism. All of us on the campaign trail have been heartened by how thoughtful, civil, and meaningful our in person interaction with voters have been. There’s been very little of the toxic rhetoric that you hear online bleeding into the real world. My in-person interactions with voters have reaffirmed my belief that our democratic process really does work. It’s a work in progress. It’s messy, but it works.”

Kyle Zelazny. West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

As the last of the Town Council candidates to speak, Kyle Zelazny said, “We appreciate you as West Hartford citizens. We appreciate you as voters. We appreciate you as people who understand what has happened this past week. I ask that as you think about that, you turn that into action, you turn that into talking to your fellow neighbors, and you turn that into being able to help others that are in darkness and don’t see the light.”

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

At the beginning of the vigil, Daly indicated that Mayor Shari Cantor was invited but unable to attend the vigil due to a prior commitment. Cantor provided the following statement to Daly and to We-Ha.com:

“Thank you for extending an invitation to attend. I was deeply appalled by this senseless act of violence against someone engaged in civil dialogue and debate. My heart breaks for Erika and their two children (who are exactly the age of my grandchildren) and losing their father is truly tragic.

“I am grateful to Utah Governor Cox who in a moment of immense grief and loss implored the country to dedicate themselves to end a cycle of violent division, echoing his longstanding calls for civility in the nation’s political discourse and urging people to ‘disagree better.’

“And to young people, he said, ‘You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now, not by pretending differences don’t matter but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.”

Cantor said she was grateful to Daly for organizing the gathering and for reaching out to her. “Gun violence remains a scourge in our country – from this tragedy to the recent assassination of Minnesota legislators, and the ongoing wave of school shootings and mass violence we’ve faced since Columbine. It is incumbent on all of us to come together and do everything we can to stop it,” she said in her statement.

The “Logical Conservative” bus was parked in West Hartford for most of the day, including during the West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk on Sept. 15, 2025. It has reportedly visited other Connecticut towns during the summer. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford RTC candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk. Sept. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

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