Supporters hail Kirk as martyr

MEMORIAL: RELIGIOUS FERVOR IN LANGUAGE AT EVENT

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At the memorial event for slain US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, President Donald Trump and his supporters celebrated the 31 year old's life using the language of religious fervour.

"He’s a martyr now for American freedom," Trump said of Kirk, who was killed on 10 September at a Utah university campus.

Trump was the final speaker to address nearly 65 000 people at the event, held at a stadium in the southwestern US state of Arizona.

"I look at him as a Christ martyr, definitely," said Monica Mirelez, a nurse who drove more than 12 hours from Texas.

"He was a perfect example of what we should be doing as Christians, we should be bold and speak up," she said.

"It's so sad that he was silenced like this," Mirelez said, adding that "it feels like losing a brother".