GOP Lawmaker Pushes To Build Charlie Kirk Memorials On Public Campuses In Red State

A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma has filed a invoice to require public universities within the crimson state to construct statues of Charlie Kirk following the right-wing activist’s assassination.

The laws from Oklahoma state Sen. Shane Jett (R) — who leads the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus — seems to honor Kirk by establishing a “Charlie Kirk Memorial Plaza” that may be constructed “in a extremely seen and simply accessible location” at public campuses, per the bill.

The statues of Kirk would see him both sitting at a desk with an empty seat throughout from him or they might function him and his spouse holding their youngsters.

The laws additionally requires indicators “commemorating Charlie Kirk’s braveness and religion” and explaining his function as a “voice of a era, trendy civil rights chief, vocal Christian, martyr for fact and religion, and free speech advocate.”

Different items of laws filed by Jett embody a invoice that appears to designate Kirk’s birthday, Oct. 14, as “Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day” and a resolution that may require the state legislature to acknowledge and honor Kirk.

Oklahoma state Sen. Ally Seifried (R) filed similar resolution earlier within the week that appears for the chamber to honor Kirk, as properly.

The payments and resolutions are set to be thought-about by the legislature when the physique reconvenes in February.

Jett’s push for statues on public campuses arrives after David Keyes, a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shared an AI-generated picture of a “Charlie Kirk Free Speech Plaza” on X. The post has over 10 million views on the platform, as of Friday night time.

“Each American college ought to have one in every of these,” Keyes wrote.

The New School of Florida — a public establishment whose board was overhauled by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 — plans to fee a privately-funded statue of Kirk that it hopes to face for the faculty’s “dedication” to “defend and struggle totally free speech and civil discourse in American life.”