“Pretend like Erica didn't know…”: Candace Owens expresses disgust over AmFest’s recreation of Charlie Kirk's murder scene

The moment did not arrive with a speech or a chant. It arrived quietly, in a hallway, where something meant to honor instead shocked people into silence. What unfolded at AmFest left many stunned, not because it stirred debate, but because it crossed a line few expected to see crossed in public view.

For some observers, the scene felt heavier than politics or messaging. It struck at memory, grief, and judgment. What was meant to symbolize remembrance instead raised painful questions about taste, responsibility, and how far spectacle has begun to travel in modern America.

Candace Owens slams AmFest after tent recreating Charlie Kirk’s death sparks backlash

The reaction came swiftly and emotionally, centered on a recreated tent linked to the death of Charlie Kirk at Utah University. What disturbed critics was not only the display itself, but the casual behavior around it. People posed for selfies. Phones came out. The gravity of loss seemed reduced to a backdrop.

One voice captured the intensity of that response with raw clarity, struggling to even name the emotion it triggered. She described the moment this way: “Thing that sent me over the edge was when I saw the tent. Okay. I am never going to get over this tent. I could spend a week discussing this tent.”


She continued, “I could I could probably do a month of content describing the tent and how I felt seeing the tent and what this tent actually now represents. What am I referring to? Let's take a listen to a reporter who was at AmFest described describe the scene behind her in the hallway outside of the speaking area take a listen and you can see from behind me.”

“This is a recreation of the tent where Charlie Kirk lost his life at Utah University in September and people are taking selfies with it. I can't I cannot I am not capable of whatever that when I saw this I realized I do not know enough words. I had to consult a thesaurus and I still could not land upon the correct adjective to describe how I felt when I saw that tent the recreate people taking selfies under a recreation. I don't know if it's actually the tent. It looks like it's pretty old or a tent that Charlie died under that's what was happening at AmFest.”

She further questioned, “I said I wonder who approved this because I know what's gonna come next. You're gonna say oh, we don't know how it happened and it's something fell through the cracks and so much was going on. We had no idea at the tent that Charlie died I was being brought in as a display. We had no idea that was happening. So I messaged I said who did this who approved this?”


“I want to know because I have no authority to fire with people but I want to pretend like I can fire the people who made this decision everyone involved and the answer that I got you're not gonna believe this or you will believe this that the person who approved this tent was the amazing Elizabeth McCoy.”

“Potentially more amazing than her husband Michael McCoy Elizabeth McCoy was the person who approved this tent. So there's no way that they can come out and pretend like Erica didn't know this was happening because she's very close with Elizabeth McCoy.”

The controversy now lingers not because of outrage alone, but because it forces a harder conversation. When remembrance becomes display, and grief turns into content, people begin to ask where empathy ends and performance begins.

Also Read: “One step ahead of my haters”: Candace Owens stirs buzz with viral video referencing Charlie Kirk and Erika Kirk