Ashley Kang
A student lights candles next to a placard reading, "No human is illegal on stolen land" at the vigil on Smith and Carlos lawn.
On Thursday evening, dozens of San José State students and San José community members held two separate vigils: one mourning the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the other mourning lives lost to systemic violence.
Although the vigils were both scheduled for 7 p.m. on neighboring lawns, they were not meant to coincide with or detract from each other, according to Sofia Calderon, president of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A.), one of the groups organizing the Candlelight Vigil.
The vigil for Kirk was organized by SJSU’s chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a non-profit organization that advocates for conservative politics on college campuses.
TPUSA was founded by Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking on a tour stop at Utah Valley University last month.
Candlelight Vigil
The Candlelight Vigil was in memory of Black and Brown lives lost to systemic violence and organized by a coalition of progressive student organizations, including SJSU Black Student Union, M.E.Ch.A. and SJSU Students for Justice in Palestine.
Students held hands in prayer, shared poetry and wrote the names of their loved ones on placards.
Speakers included members of student organizations such as League of Filipino Students, SJSU PRIDE Center’s TransTalk and Students for a Democratic Society and afterward, the floor was opened to any community member who wished to speak.
Cole Mitchell, a sociology alumnus who works for an affordable housing nonprofit and in Black liberation organizations around the Bay Area, emphasized the importance of grieving in public and with community.
“With the numerous atrocities going around (in) this world, it is absolutely insane that we would choose to grieve alone,” Mitchell said. “Having spaces where we can actually come out and grieve in public and talk about these things and have a dialogue is worth everything.”
Kimmy Adelusi, a fourth-year chemistry student, said she felt the vigil was needed.
“It’s not the first time we’ve came to mourn again” Adelusi said. “We’ve mourned for Tyre Nichols, Sonya Massey and many many, sadly, many more Gregory (Johnson, Jr.). It’s nothing new, but we always know that we have communities to rely on. We have various amount of allies within this campus all around even within San José and outside of the campus. I think it was great. I think it was peaceful, I think it was heartfelt and intentional and it got the message (across).”
Gregory Johnson Jr. was a San José State student who was found dead, hanging in the basement of the Sigma Chi fraternity house in 2008, according to a Feb. 19, 2009 article by the Spartan Daily.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled the death a suicide at the time and a joint investigation by the Examiner and County District Attorney reached the same conclusion in 2021, according to a Nov. 12, 2021 article by CBS News.
TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk Vigil
The vigil for Charlie Kirk, which was held by the fountain on Tower Lawn, also featured speakers, prayer and hymns.
Nevaeh Drummer, president of SJSU TPUSA and third-year music student, said the vigil represented freedom, faith and a community coming together to fight a “spiritual battle” in the United States.
“A lot of stuff happened before Charlie Kirk’s death. And I just feel like there’s a lot of energy that isn’t much filled with love, it isn’t filled with the stuff that the other side preaches. And you’re seeing it every single day, you know, they want to preach love, they want to preach unity and all this. But where is the unity? Where is the love? Because a lot of them were celebrating,” Drummer said.
A few passersby on the walkways surrounding the lawn heckled the crowd from afar.
Regarding the timing of both the Candlelight Vigil and the TPUSA vigil for Charlie Kirk, Drummer said she was concerned about the intentions of the Candlelight Vigil.
“If they’re doing it based off of truly feeling like this vigil is for Black and Brown voices I am grateful that they’re doing that,” Drummer said. “But if they’re not doing it for that purpose and they’re using it as an excuse to distract of what we got going on here, just because they disagree with us, than I think that’s harmful, because you should not use the Brown and Black community just to try and deter what we’re doing here.”
Gary Fabian, a San José resident, shouted at vigil attendees as they sang to popular Christian hymns.
“They (ICE) will go down! Trust me, their time is coming,” Fabian said. “For those of you who do not speak out against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), their time is coming!”
Fabian said history would remember how people acted in response to political events of the present.
“People will have to live with the shame of how they acted during this time. I’m not gonna forget, their neighbours aren’t gonna forget,” Fabian said. “Shame about how they’re treating their community, how they’re overstepping boundaries, how they’re introducing (brutality) back into the world – what is this? It’s permissible violence is what it is.”