Charlie Kirk Photo: Coco Lance
The public assassination of American conservative commentator Charlie Kirk earlier this month sent shockwaves throughout the United States - and around the world.
The 31-year-old CEO of Turning Point USA was shot in the neck and killed during a debate at Utah Valley University on 10 September.
Reactions were swift and polarised.
Vigils and rallies honoured his life, while debate simultaneously erupted over his legacy.
Some hailed him as a martyr for Christian values and free speech, while others saw a divisive figure whose rhetoric sowed seeds of hate.
In Aotearoa, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour praised Kirk's commitment to "the free exchange of ideas".
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki called Kirk a "man executed because he loved Christ" and compared their values.
On the other hand, Labour and Green MPs refused to support a parliamentary motion honouring Kirk.
Among Pacific communities, support surged.
Social media was flooded with tributes hailing Kirk as a "man of God", "bold Christian" and "defender of truth".
In the Northern Marianas, leaders called his death "a profound loss in our national conversation".
Guam's Speaker Frank Blas Jr said Kirk died "doing what he did best... persuading, not dividing".
At Kirk's Arizona memorial, American-Samoan Tulsi Gabbard, US Director of National Intelligence, said: "Charlie stood in the arena armed with superior arguments, with truth, reason, propelled by love for God, love for others, and love for our great nation... His words were his weapons."
Tulsi Gabbard speaks at Charlie Kirk's memorial Photo: Tusli Gabbard/Tulsi Gabbard Youtube
But as praise poured in, so did criticism.
Prior to Kirk's assassination, he had been criticised for blaming the 2023 Maui wildfires on "pagan Hawaiian culture".
"There is blood on the hands of the waterworshipers. Christianity broke us free of Pagan slavery. Maui did not have to burn if they did not believe such whacky, goofy, Pagan stuff," Kirk had said on the Charlie Kirk show.
In response, popular TikTok user @Hapi_117 said, "He's blaming the Islanders, or native Hawaiians, for causing the Maui fires because they 'worship water..' It has nothing to do with Hawaiian culture."
"When Pasifika Weep for Empire"
Conversations continued when Samoan-Fijian American writer Marli Olive Wesley ignited debate with her Substack essay, When Pasifika Weep for Empire.
- photograph of Marli Photo: Marli Olive Wesley, photograph sourced from her Substack 'Rooted and Rising.'
She argued that Kirk's conservative views - anti-immigrant, anti-queer, pro-policing, pro-empire - run counter to the values of the Pacific communities now mourning him.
"We are a people who have endured land theft, blackbirding, nuclear testing, deportation, and exile," Wesley wrote.
"Yet again and again, we align ourselves with those who uphold the very systems that shrink us."
Wesley suggested the outpouring of grief was not just about faith, but obedience. Obedience "drilled in by mission schools, reinforced in pews, and exported through migration."
Speaking to RNZ Pacific, Wesley said she started writing her article well before Kirk's death.
"I've been unsettled for a long time by the contradictions I see in our communities... I'd hear people say they stand on Christian values - love, compassion, justice, care for the vulnerable - but then watch their politics align more with American conservative values like exclusion, nationalism, punishment, and individualism," she told RNZ Pacific.
Wesley said Kirk's death only laid those contradictions bare.
"I don't think most Pasifika who mourned him agreed with every policy. What I saw was the reflex of loyalty… to church, to tradition, to a version of Christian authority that tells us who to follow and what to believe."
Rev James Bhagwan in Honiara for the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting from 8-12 September 2025. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
Not all backlash has been entirely critical, with Fijian Reverend James Bhagwan calling for nuance.
"A man's life was taken. I will not cheer that... But grief shouldn't become amnesia. We can lament a death without canonising politics that wounded many."
Bhagwan urged Pacific communities to reflect rather than react.
"Support for Kirk often stemmed from familiar teachings, promises of order, diaspora longing for security. I don't see those people as enemies - it's a formation task."
"Pray before posting. Verify before sharing. Guard dignity… especially of those we disagree with."
Tongan theologian and academic Rev Nāsili Vaka'uta said Wesley's criticism was not only justified, but necessary.
"Her essay reveals how colonial Christianity conditions us to mourn power figures…even those who oppose our dignity. We inherit doctrines of love but deploy them selectively."
He called it "delusional religiosity", a result of settler-colonial logics that shape how Pasifika read faith, politics, and authority.
"Death doesn't create new problems. It exposes old wounds."
President Donald Trump called Kirk "a giant of his generation" at his memorial service, saying he was "violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice".
Authorities say Kirk's suspected killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was captured after a 33-hour manhunt.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox has not ruled out the death penalty.
The investigation is ongoing.
