Orem Mayor David Young said the decision was controversial to some because a suspect had yet to be detained, but he felt it was important for the community to gather and that more than 3,000 people turned out.

“My attitude was, no, our people were hurt. They’re hurting,” Young said. “They’re in a bad place right now, we’re not gonna bow down to this type of thing, and we’re going to have an event.”

The Daily Herald sat down with Mayor David Young for an interview as he seeks reelection for a second term. In this second story recapping the discussion, Young addressed how he, as the city’s leader, responded to Kirk’s assassination.

Young said many political groups have shied away from talking about Kirk’s killing, but said Orem has done everything it can to honor Kirk.

“That was Kirk’s biggest thing — to actually just talk about things,” Young said. “And then he also took a message of Christianity out there in a big way. So I would say we fully embraced it. I did the candlelight vigil, and in the city council meeting right after it, I did a dedication to him.”

Young said after the incident, more than 40 national and international media organizations reached out with interview requests and that he spoke to around 20 of them.

“It was basically just to help them understand what our community was, who we are,” he said. “I mean, are we a place where this is a normal thing? People had no idea, right?”

Kirk’s killing was believed to be an act of political violence during a time when the national political scene has become increasingly polarizing. As Orem residents seek to heal from the tragic incident that occurred in their own community, they also look to navigate a municipal election that has stirred its own controversy.

In the Orem municipal race, six city council candidates are vying for three open positions and are each endorsed by one of two political PACs. A scroll through Facebook posts regarding Orem or a glance at the Daily Herald op-ed section shows how contentious the race has become.

Young said a key to overcoming disagreement is collaboration, and said he has seen this process play out in the current city council.

He said certain issues have been “divisive,” such as the Wilkerson Farm rezoning decision. But he said the group agrees “95% of the time,” and has collaborated well at times, including on the Canyon Park development.

“The way collaboration works is just having open communication,” he said. “And I believe where things go sideways is when somebody just puts a stake in the ground and won’t talk and says, ‘I just know this because I know it,’ but they’re not going to debate it. They’re not willing to discuss it. But as soon as you can have real conversations with people and go through the pros and cons, that’s how I think you might have legitimate collaboration.”