Tarrant County is honoring the life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk despite pushback from Democratic commissioners.
County commissioners in a 3-2 vote along party lines approved the resolution during Tuesday's meeting. It was proposed by Republican Commissioner Matt Krause, who described Kirk's work as one that "sparked Christian revival" and left a legacy.
"After his passing, unfortunately, it was the first time I really understood the impact that he had, especially on a generation of young men and women that needed that kind of guidance," Krause said.
Kirk, who was killed last September as he spoke to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University, was known for his conservative views and controversial statements regarding race, gender and other topics.
Among some of those statements includes his criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement on college campuses in 2021. Kirk called George Floyd, the Black man whose murder by Minneapolis police in 2020 sparked nationwide protests, a “scumbag.”
"How much honoring and celebrating did we do for the people who died at the hands of brutality because of the color of their skin?" Democratic Commissioner Roderick Miles, Jr. said to commissioners during Tuesday's meeting. "I'll answer it for you, none."
Miles said Kirk's ideologies and views did extreme harm to people of color and was not okay with being asked to co-sign on honoring someone who did harm to people like him.
"You ain't got to agree with me, I don't care," Miles said. "But I am telling you that the things that he said were dishonorable to me, my daughters, my wife, my family, and my community."
Commissioner Alisa Simmons, also a Democrat, said political violence is always wrong — but that doesn't mean the court needs to endorse him as a public legacy.
"People are free to admire him and others are equally free to reject his views," Simmons said. "But the Tarrant County seal should not be used to settle that national political debate."
Outside the commissioners court building, a group of people were also seen singing along to Christian songs before the meeting, showing their support for the resolution.
Sept 10. marks one year since Kirk's death. Tyler Robinson, the man accused of shooting and killing Kirk, pleaded not guilty during a preliminary hearing Tuesday after a Utah District judge sided with prosecutors who said have “a mountain of evidence” against Robinson. The case is now headed to trial, where Robinson could face the death penalty if found guilty,
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Email Penelope at privera@kera.org.
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