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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Charlie Kirk funeral poses major test to Secret Service: ‘It’s all
hands on deck — but there’s multiple decks’
By Betsy Klein, CNN
Updated:
11:11 AM EDT, Mon September 15, 2025
Source: CNN
President Donald Trump, high-level administration and Republican Party
officials, and top political influencers are expected to converge in
Arizona on Sunday to honor Charlie Kirk, the .
But the memorial service, to be held at the massive State Farm Stadium
in Glendale, just outside Phoenix, is going to pose an enormous test
for law enforcement, particularly the US Secret Service, an agency and
enormous pressure.
And the reason for the gathering — a single, fatal bullet intended to
silence a political figure — only underscores the risks.
It remains to be seen whether the memorial will be designated as a
national special security event, which would provide additional
resources from the federal government, working in tandem with state and
local authorities.
“The Secret Service joins the nation in offering our deepest
condolences to the Kirk family and friends,” Secret Service
spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “Joint security
planning is underway for the memorial and funeral of Charlie Kirk and
appropriate public safety related information will be provided as the
process matures in the coming days.”
CNN has also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for
comment.
State Farm Stadium has a capacity of more than 63,000 people, and
registration to attend the event is open to the public, requiring a
name, email, cellphone and ZIP code.
The stadium — home to the Arizona Cardinals NFL team — has a
retractable roof, meaning it can be enclosed or open air. The memorial,
announced Saturday by Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, is
coming together quickly, scrambling law enforcement to arrive on site,
position magnetometers and other resources, survey the interior and
exterior of the space, and prepare a fulsome plan to combat risk.
“This location may be seen as an attractive target for a hostile
actor because of its visibility. The potential for it to be disrupted
through a series of different threats, or even the threat of a threat,
is something that law enforcement really has to focus in on and then
put the mitigation protocols in place now,” said Jonathan Wackrow, a
former US Secret Service agent and CNN contributor who specializes in
risk management.
That will require efforts to mitigate the possibility of incidents like
vehicles ramming into crowds and biological threats, the positioning of
counter-snipers in and outside the arena, and the protection of
high-profile figures such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has
indicted he’s likely to attend.
The White House has requested in security funding for the executive and
judicial branches following Kirk’s assassination, a Republican
congressional aide told CNN on Monday. And that request, by Punchbowl
News, is being “actively processed” in the context of a stopgap
funding bill, the aide said.
Kirk’s murder is already and the people who protect them to make
agonizing choices, balancing whether the public’s access to them is
worth the risk.
Since Kirk’s assassination, several campaigns or political groups
have already called off events out of an abundance of caution. And as
the midterm elections approach, candidates will increasingly be forced
to weigh their need to connect with constituents and potential voters
against the reality of practicing politics at a time of accelerating
threats, attempted attacks and slayings.
“There are a bunch of blinking red warning signs right now for
individuals, whether you’re a member of Congress, you’re an elected
official at the federal, state or local level, or, as with Charlie
Kirk, a key political influencer, to be out there right now promoting
your own political thoughts,” said Wackrow.
“Why? Because what we’re seeing is this massive shift in people
normalizing targeted killing because of grievance,” he warned,
pointing to Kirk’s killing, along with the recent assassination of
Minnesota state Rep. and her husband at their home, and of United
Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The event also comes at a unique moment of extreme demands on the
Secret Service. Trump and the first lady are to the United Kingdom for
a state visit this week ahead of the service, requiring resources
abroad. And one of the biggest events the Secret Service supports each
year, the United Nations General Assembly, will be underway early next
week in New York City. The agency is responsible for protecting more
than 100 visiting foreign dignitaries.
While the reputation of the US Secret Service is one of precision,
vigilance and security, the reality has been more complicated — a
high-stress, high-intensity workplace that has at times been wracked by
management and logistical issues.
“This is going to push the Secret Service to its limit,” Wackrow
said, “It’s all hands on deck — but there’s multiple decks.”
With finite resources, the agency could have to scale back its
readiness in one area to secure another, Wackrow said.
“I am sure that the moment that this event is over on Sunday, there
will be planes ready to bring everybody back to New York, but you
potentially have a gap that’s exposed in New York,” he said. “And
if you think that foreign entities aren’t watching that and looking
for it, don’t be fooled. They are.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Michael Williams and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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