Waving American and Christian flags, hundreds attended a memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk at the state Capitol building in Lansing Monday.
Kirk died last week after being shot by a lone gunman at a Utah college campus.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Jim Runestad praised Kirk’s leadership in promoting conservative values.
“We will demand justice for Charlie’s murder,” Runestad told the crowd gathered on the state Capitol building lawn in the late afternoon sun, “And we will ensure that his voice echoes in every fight we take on and every victory that we win.”
The memorial was punctuated by occasional chants of “USA” and amens from the crowd.
Funeral services for Kirk will take place this Sunday in Arizona.
Authorities have not yet described a motive for the shooting, but law enforcement officials have offered some details into their investigation.
DNA on a towel wrapped around a rifle found near where Kirk was assassinated matched that of the 22-year-old accused in the killing, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday.
Investigators also have used DNA evidence to link the suspect, Tyler Robinson, with a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired, Patel said Monday on the Fox News show “Fox & Friends.”
Authorities in Utah are preparing to file capital murder charges against Robinson as early as Tuesday in the killing of Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics who became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations.
Kirk, who brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics, was shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University during one of his many campus stops. The shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply divided United States.
