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Charlie Kirk murder: New College of Florida to commission late activist's statue to ‘honor his legacy’
Days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, New College of Florida has announced that it will commission a statue of the Turning Point USA founder to honor him.
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, New College of Florida has announced that it will commission a statue of the Turning Point USA founder to honor him. Kirk, 31, was allegedly shot dead by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson on September 10 during an appearance at a campus event in Utah. The shooting happened around 12:20 pm local time during a student Q&A at UVU in Orem, per a statement from Utah Valley University (UVU).
New College of Florida said on X, sharing a photo of the statue, “Today, we announced that we will commission a statue of Charlie Kirk to honor his legacy and incredible work after his tragic assassination last week. The statue, privately funded by community leaders, will stand on campus as a commitment by New College to defend and fight for free speech and civil discourse in American life. The location for the statue will be announced in the coming months.”
‘There should be one on every college campus’
Supporters backed the decision in the comment section. “There should be a microphone on the other side of the table to ensure it’s understood he wanted anyone to speak to him,” one user wrote, while another said, “This is a beautiful tribute. There should be one on every college campus.” “Any college who truly values the idea of free speech and having a conversation with someone you disagree with should be commissioning the very same statue. @charliekirk11 embodies everything that is great about the 1st Amendment,” one user commented.
“This is absolutely amazing. Hopefully your announcement of the Charlie Kirk statue will start a snowball effect for all the other colleges to do the same!!” one user wrote, while another said, “Awesome. I hope others follow your lead. There should be one on every campus in America.” “Excellent. ALL Americans should support that, even if they disagreed with most of Charlie's opinions. Because what he was doing is exactly what we want ALL Americans to do: respectful, civil discussion and debate in the pursuit of truth,” wrote a user.
On Tuesday, September 16, Robinson was charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice (weapon), obstruction of justice (clothing), witness tampering (texts), witness tampering (silence), and violent offence in presence of a child.
