{"id":16120,"date":"2025-10-15T22:53:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hundreds-in-farmington-honor-remember-charlie-kirk-on-his-birthday\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:54:56","slug":"hundreds-in-farmington-honor-remember-charlie-kirk-on-his-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hundreds-in-farmington-honor-remember-charlie-kirk-on-his-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds in Farmington honor, remember Charlie Kirk on his birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Farmington
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe speaks at the Oct. 14 memorial for Charlie Kirk at the San Juan County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo grounds in Farmington. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As the sun dipped below the horizon on Oct. 14, casting crimson across the sky, the stands of the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Posse Rodeo grounds mirrored the glow \u2013 a sea of red in honor of Charlie Kirk, who would have turned 32 that day.<\/p>\n

The Farmington arena was filled with hundreds of local members of Turning Point U.S.A. and members of the Republican Party, gathering for a candlelight vigil in memory of Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10 on the campus of Utah Valley University.<\/p>\n

Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said, \u201cSept. 10 was a stunning day to me, like many Americans across our country. \u2026 I heard the news. I logged on. I watched what was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebbe spoke about watching the investigation from a law enforcement perspective and being curious what investigators would learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I saw the clip where he actually was shot. It was just horrific there\u2019s just no other way to describe it,\u201d Hebbe said, adding he had many questions going through his mind.<\/p>\n

\"A
A law enforcement officer stands at watch over those in attendance for the Oct. 14, 2025 Charlie Kirk memorial service at the San Juan County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo grounds. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWhat are we doing as a country? How did we get to this spot,\u201d Hebbe said, pointing out that Kirk was on college campus to debate, which has been a \u201cfoundation of what college is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would go; you would debate; you would argue with different people, and now we\u2019re shooting them in front of thousands, in front of his family,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

He added not only have we \u201cripped out country down,\u201d but \u201cWe question the institutions that have made us great. We turn on each other on almost every topic, and we don\u2019t just debate and argue we vilify.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police chief spoke about a recent incident at the New Mexico State Legislature in which State Representative Eleanor Ch\u00e1vez said, \u201cICE is acting like the KKK,\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019ve got to stop our local police, our state police who are collaborating with ICE.\u201d She also compared their actions to \u201cfascism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t the first time that I\u2019ve heard that rhetoric honestly, but I certainly have tired of it,\u201d Hebbe said. \u201cWe wonder why we would struggle to recruit and retain police officers in New Mexico and that\u2019s the language that would come from leaders describing us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caiti
Caiti Bougeant, left, and Kason Beaugeant, right, at the Charlie Kirk memorial Oct. 14, 2025 at the San Juan County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo grounds. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Hebbe said he doesn\u2019t mind arguing and debating. \u201cI don\u2019t mind the emotion of it,\u201d but \u201cthe vilification of Americans doing their job is absolutely intolerable, and that is what Charlie was demonstrating to us through his actions \u2013 through going and talking and debating people who didn\u2019t think like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirk \u201calways sought peaceful resolve through meaningful debate. He was outstanding at that,\u201d San Juan County Detention Center Administrator Daniel Webb said, adding Kirk was killed \u201cfor nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights, for sharing his opinion, his values, and his faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Capt. Kevin Burns said that while there is a \u201cprofound loss\u201d in death, he is \u201cthankful that Charlie\u2019s voice of reason and logic reached millions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest tribute we can give to Charlie\u2019s memory is understanding that we can have different beliefs but still be neighbors. We can still be committed to our values and advocate for those beliefs we hold with high regard,\u201d said Burns, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have watched our nation become a place where division overshadows decency,\u201d Burns said, adding \u201cevery generation has faced moments where voices of division have tried to pull us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marvin
Marvin Marquez holds a Turning Point USA flag during an Oct. 14, 2025 memorial for Charlie Kirk at the San Juan County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo grounds. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He encouraged people to not buy into the division. \u201cIf we feed anger, resentment and fear \u2013 they grow. But if we feed understanding and respect \u2013 those take root instead,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am saddened at the state of divide our country is currently in and the violence that has ensued, but I\u2019m also glad for Charlie\u2019s resolve to remain courageous in both his faith and his mission to heal this nation,\u201d said Webb, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout Charlie Kirk our country would be in a different place right now because he worked so hard to make our country better,\u201d said Ken Christesen, who is running for San Juan County sheriff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was enthusiastic in his support for Donald Trump, and I appreciate that more than I can tell you because now we have a president who is leading instead of following,\u201d Christesen said, adding faith was paramount in Kirk\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was unapologetic when he stepped out and said he was Christian, and he followed Jesus,\u201d Christesen said. \u201cOne of the things that got me, was he said he wanted heaven to be crowded, and that\u2019s why he worked so hard to change so many hearts and minds in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People
People in attendance at the Oct. 14, 2025, Charlie Kirk memorial at the San Juan County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo grounds. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Changing minds to share a \u201ccommon value\u201d was what Hebbe focused on, when he said that value should be coming together as Americans in this nation \u2013 \u201ca nation that moves mountains when we want to. A nation that stops wars. A nation that frees hostages when no one else in the world, not another nation in the world could do it,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

Hebbe pointed out that this nation and the people in it are not perfect, but \u201cwe can debate, we can push, we can try and be better, but we are ripping apart the foundation of who we are, which is a great nation of people not necessarily like-minded, but who share a common value that we are Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebbe added, \u201cWe should never forget that \u2013 that is one of Charlie\u2019s biggest legacies. America is the greatest country in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Candlelight vigil memorial at San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Posse grounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20026,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120\/revisions\/20026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16120"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}