Guests - Shelly Boggs, Seamus Bruner, Lisa Von Geldern

Remembering Charlie Kirk: A Legacy of Faith, Freedom and Youth Empowerment

In a heartfelt conversation with Shelly Boggs, Superintendent of Public Instruction for Maricopa County, Kathleen Winn reflects on the profound impact of Charlie Kirk's life and legacy following his tragic death.

Wind Tucson welcomed Shelly Boggs, Superintendent of Public Instruction for Maricopa County, for a poignant discussion about Charlie Kirk's life and legacy. Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA who was tragically killed at age 31, left an indelible mark on conservative politics and youth activism.

"It has been a tough week, and it's been more than a week as of today," shared Kathleen Winn, fighting back tears. "I've been reaching out to people that knew and loved Charlie Kirk. There were so many of us."

Boggs recounted her first meaningful encounter with Kirk during COVID at a school board meeting in Chandler, Arizona. "We were fighting to get schools to open and let the kids in," she recalled. "He was what, maybe 25 years old, didn't have kids, wasn't married, still out there fighting for kids, fighting for our youth."

What struck Boggs most was Kirk's dedication despite his youth. "He was still a kid. In my life, I'm old... but still sitting there next to somebody who's a 25-year-old young man fighting for kids. He just knew that that's our future. And we have to save them. We have to protect them."

The Evolution of a Movement

Winn remembered watching Kirk's organization grow from humble beginnings. "Tyler was in some building on Country Club... When they came here to Arizona, it wasn't fancy." She recalled questioning whether the fledgling organization would succeed, but was drawn to "the concept of what he wanted to do of going on college campuses."

In the decade since, Kirk transformed Turning Point into a nationwide force. "The last four years, he took what he had built and he put rocket boosters on it," Winn observed. "Now, I think there's so much sadness about so many things that he's not going to get to see... the fruit of his labor." She mentioned there have been up to 57,000 requests for chapters across the country and internationally.

Despite his packed schedule, Kirk prioritized family time. "He would take Saturdays off to be with his family, to be with Erica and the kids, and you couldn't find him on a Saturday," Winn shared. "He spent time, he took that time, even as important than the things that he was doing."

A Voice of Reason in Political Discourse

Both women emphasized Kirk's intellectual approach to political discourse. "He had so much intellectual and emotional intelligence," Winn said. "He could be fine with, if you didn't agree with him, he had no problem with that. He was not hateful."

"He would be very respectful and listen to what you said," she continued. "A lot of times people that were there to kind of trip him up... he would start to put holes in them because they weren't real. And then you could sometimes see... the light bulb go on to these people he was talking to."

Boggs highlighted how Kirk's approach resonated with young people: "These young kids that are following him and learning who are hearing things that probably aren't true, and watching him just tell the truth and these people not being able to defend their side. They were able to watch it and absorb."

Education Battlegrounds and Kirk's Influence

The conversation shifted to Boggs' role as Superintendent and the challenges in education. Winn noted, "You have a huge responsibility to put good people on school boards."

Boggs described her approach to school board appointments: "Some of these districts are tough... I interview anybody in the district... Like if it's 50 people, I will interview every single one of them."

She highlighted safety concerns in schools, particularly in Phoenix Union: "I've been at the board meeting and parents and teachers and students are going up to the mic asking for safety, asking for help... And the board ignores them."

Kirk had been excited about Boggs' ability to influence education through appointments. "After I was at an event with him... he high-fived and he put his arm around me. He's like, 'I can't wait for your board appointments. We're gonna fix these schools, Shelley.'"

A Movement Continues

Despite the heartbreak of Kirk's death, both women expressed determination to continue his mission. "I think Charlie gets the last slap on that because... that's what's going on," Winn stated firmly.

"What we have to do is honor Charlie, heal our hearts, follow God—and follow God is really first—and honor the work and the body of work he did," she concluded. "We're not gonna idolize him... We can honor him. There's a difference."

Boggs shared her personal tribute: "My shirt I made was 'to be like Charlie.' Just to be like him." She explained, "Charlie's not gonna be replaceable... but every day, if we could be like him, what an amazing world we would live in."

Investigating the Assassination: A Deeper Conspiracy?

In conversation with Seamus Bruner, Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute, Winn explores potential factors behind Kirk's assassination and the larger implications.

Shifting focus, Kathleen Winn welcomed Seamus Bruner to discuss the darker implications of Kirk's assassination. "Who took the shooter and who poured the hatred into him, who radicalized him?" Winn asked pointedly.

Bruner described what he called an "ecosystem of left-wing radicalization" that begins early in life. "It starts very, very early on in a child's life," he explained, listing drag queen story hours, school curriculum issues, and online forums as potential contributors.

"This ecosystem of left-wing radicalization starts very, very early on in a child's life," Bruner detailed. "Start with drag queen story hours... then you move up through primary school, public schools. They're learning all about DEI and woke and reading these really sinister books that are scrambling children's brains."

He continued: "The social-emotional learning and DEI stuff that's being pumped into the schools... hundreds of them celebrating the Kirk assassination, and they've got the radical flags."

Armed Groups and Foreign Connections

The conversation turned to potential organized involvement. Winn asked about a group called "Armed Queers of Salt Lake City" and whether the shooter, Tyler Robinson, had connections to them.

Bruner clarified: "There's no evidence that Tyler Robinson or his roommate/lover Lance Twiggs were members of Armed Queers of Salt Lake City." However, he noted suspicious activity: "What we do know is that the FBI has placed this group under investigation... the day of the assassination is spreading all of its digital presence, deleting all of it."

He outlined deeper connections to international entities: "They had a training event with the John Brown Gun Club of Elm Fork, which was implicated in the shooting of an ICE officer in Texas... These are backed by a man named Neville Roy Singham, who is in the crosshairs of... chairman James Comer."

Bruner explained that Singham "is being investigated by the Oversight Committee... They just sent a letter to the Treasury Department, to seize his, or freeze or seize his assets." According to Bruner, Singham has "funded the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles... the Pro-Hamas demonstrations in New York City... He is in bed with the Chinese Communist Party."

Billionaire Funding Networks

Bruner also pointed to what he called "high level, left-wing NGO networks" that fund various activist groups. "Such as the Soros Network, or the Arabella Network, or Tides... billions and billions of dollars being funneled into all kinds of anti-ICE, anti-..."

"They paid for all the protests, right? I mean, the Black Lives Matter," Winn interjected.

"They paid for BLM and Antifa," Bruner confirmed. "There was an event in Atlanta... called Stop Cop City. They were gonna build a police training academy outside of Atlanta... That was very well funded by the Tides, and Soros funds Tides."

Winn expressed appreciation for this perspective: "Anyone who listens to my show, you just gave them like a whole new perspective on what's going on. And I'm so grateful because, actually I woke up this morning saying, he didn't do this alone."

A Second Shooter Theory

Lisa Von Geldern of the John Birch Society joins to discuss alternative theories about Kirk's assassination and broader concerns about political violence.

In the final segment, Lisa Von Geldern presented a controversial theory about Kirk's death. "There's a video out by a man who's a military, out of the military, and he walks through everything, and Tyler Robinson, he was not killed by a shot from up on that roof."

According to Von Geldern, "The bullet did not go in the front of Charlie's throat, and it did not come through the back. It came through the base of his right ear and went across and out."

She claimed there was evidence of a second shooter: "There was someone, and the guy shows... the muzzle flash in the video... up on his right, up above his right shoulder, out of a building window."

Von Geldern questioned the official narrative: "Utah is not doing autopsy, no autopsy, and they don't have to, and they don't have to release it, even if they did, that's the law in Utah."

She also expressed skepticism about the shooter's alleged text messages: "They don't write messages like that. College kids don't write 'vehicle.' They don't use punctuation. All of that stuff is utter falsehood by the FBI."

Media Distrust and Moving Forward

The conversation turned to media coverage and broader societal issues. Von Geldern emphasized the importance of truth over narrative: "Instead of Jimmy Kimmel, and all of us being told he was canceled because of what he said about Charlie... he was canceled because his ratings tanked."

She stressed protecting free speech: "If we try and make it about the fact that he was awful towards Charlie's death... then we're starting to get to a place where we're threatening the First Amendment."

Winn concluded the program with a call to "fight with intellect, with intelligence, with heart, with compassion. And like Charlie, fight like Charlie. That's all I can ask."

Von Geldern offered a final thought: "You don't have to fire back at people and demean them and cut them to shreds. You can come alongside them and help them to stand in your perspective and see what you're trying to tell them."