By Richard Smith
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X: @rsmithYWV

Other than the memorial service itself, much of the online chatter regarding the logistics of the Sept. 21 service honoring the life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium was about traffic and trash.

On the ground, Glendale Police, city staff and the mayor said they were pleased such a large-scale event went off so smoothly. In particular, this was an event announced eight days beforehand, attracted a crowd of approximately 90,000 to the stadium and surrounding area and involved visits from President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and several cabinet members.

An event of this magnitude in Glendale usually is set years in advance and has more than a year of planning from the city, Sgt. Bryan Hoskin, Glendale Police Department spokesman said, on Sept. 21.

While attendees reported issues with getting to the event with some parking a mile or more away from the stadium and walking in, Hoskin said some challenges were part of the uniqueness of the event.

“I’d agree with you the parking was a challenge, we had some guidelines that needed to be followed placed by the Secret Service, but I feel we overcame those obstacles and did an exceptional job at getting everybody in as quickly and safely as possible," he said via email. "From my vantage point, the stadium was at capacity and everybody was in 45 minutes to an hour prior to the start of the Charlie Kirk memorial service, which is an example of our readiness and experience with such large events."

Doors to the stadium were scheduled to open by 8 a.m. with the event starting after 11 a.m.

Traffic backups were inevitable and Glendale officials knew they would be an issue, Hoskin said.

Glendale Police communications officers Moroni Mendez, Jose Santiago and Hoskin all did interviews for a week telling people to expect backups and to be patient and polite.

“We talked about having a plan prior to going to the memorial and knowing your route. We also discussed using ride-share (Uber/Lyft) type services if possible. Along with the additional road closures and parking lot closures it was inevitable traffic was going to be affected by these additional restrictions,” Hoskin said.

Other issues were the amount of trash left behind. Social media documented and Hoskin confirmed there was quite a bit of trash and chairs left behind.

By the end of the day, all trash had been cleaned up, Hoskin said, and he did not believe it was as bad as portrayed on social media.

“From my viewpoint, it was somewhat all put along one major area (about 9300 West Maryland Avenue area give or take), and after the event started the city of Glendale Sanitation personnel came in and began scooping it up right away and getting the roadways cleaned up,” Hoskin stated. “They were able to quickly clean up and that is one major reason why I say it wasn’t as bad as portrayed. If the trash was so bad, it would have taken longer to clean up and get back to normal.”

It was more than a normal Cardinals event, he said, mostly because Cardinals games have different rules for permitted items inside the stadium, and people do not line up hours upon hours early like they did for this event.

Motorcades for Trump and Vance, Hoskin said, had minimal impact on traffic or attendees, as they timed their arrival for close to start time which was well after the venues were at capacity and everyone was in the place.

The main goal was to ensure safety for the event. That came with large numbers of staffing and coordination with all involved agencies, including the Glendale fire and transportation departments.

Hoskin credited Glendale Police, its partner agencies who were there — everybody from the officers working the streets to Chief of Police Colby Brandt worked together to have a successful and safe event.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said during the council meeting there were two tickets cited, both for people illegally flying drones above the crowd. Otherwise, he said the city handled the event well.

 “The city has made these things, for outsiders, look like it’s just another day," he said. "I know the amount of work put in and the amount of sacrifices made. It makes me incredibly proud to be the mayor of a city of 2,000 employees who really care about what they do every day.”

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.