NJ venue pulls the plug on Charlie Kirk memorial because too many people were going to attend

On the one hand, it’s a fine problem to have: Thousands of people wanted to pay their respects to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

But officials in one New Jersey county were forced to cancel a planned tribute to Kirk because the venue didn’t have the capacity to handle the crowd, according to NJ.com.

Skylands Stadium in Frankford Township in Sussex County never officially announced that it was hosting the event. But when the word started to spread, community organizations started plugging it, MassLive’s sibling site reported.

“Before plans were finalized, outside activists inserted themselves,” Skylands Stadium, the home of the Frontier League’s Sussex Miners, an independent professional baseball team, said in a statement.

“They created groups, circulated flyers, and even listed themselves as organizers to push their political agenda. This misinformation caused confusion and inflated attendance projections to levels far beyond what could safely be managed,” stadium officials said.

“At no point did Skylands Stadium ever post, announce, or confirm this event on any of our official channels. Despite what others may claim, there was no ‘cancellation because there was never an official event,” they continued.

Officials at the stadium told NJ.com that they consulted with public safety leaders, who said holding a memorial at the 4,500-person capacity venue would be unsafe because many more people would likely show up. The stadium has just 12 full-time employees.

“A gathering of this size requires a massive infrastructure—ticketing, security, crowd management, and first responders—that cannot be built in a matter of days,” the stadium said.

Skylands Stadium officials added that they received no political pressure to halt the memorial.