Last week, the city ofWestminster, California, made an unusual addition to its streetscape: It renamed one of its main thoroughfares Charlie Kirk Way, a nod to the conservative podcaster who was killed last year. In doing so, Westminster has become the first city in the United States to name one of its streetsafter Kirk— the same road that leads to its city hall — and almost certainly the first to be memed as such by content creators on TikTok.

Kirk, who grew up in the Midwest and co-founded a right-wing youth-focused movement called Turning Point USA, does not appear to have a direct relationship to Westminster. Nor did he seem to visit this Orange County community on one of his many college campus tours with Turning Point USA. Although various regions within Orange County tend to vote for Republican candidates, particularly theMAGA hotbed of Huntington Beach, registered Republican voters outpace Democrats in Westminster by a slim margin: According to a report from theCenter for Demographic Research, 18,084 registered Democrats and 19,675 registered Republicans resided in the midsize community as of 2025.

U.S. right-wing activist Charlie Kirk speaking onstage at America Fest 2024 in Phoenix, Ariz.

About two months after Kirk’s death, Westminster City Council passed a resolution to change the name of a section of the city’s All American Way to Charlie Kirk Way. Westminster’s mayor, the Republican congressional hopeful Charlie Nguyen, wrote on X that he was “proud” to put the measure in motion,saying that it“reflects our commitment to free speech and the values our community believes in. We will always remember Charlie and his legacy will continue to live on.” Westminster City Council also passed a proposal to recognize Oct. 14, or Kirk's birthday, as “Charlie Kirk Day,” asthe Los Angeles Times reportedlast year. (Westminster City Council did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.)

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Kirk, a self-avowed Christian and a nationalist, skewed far to the right on many issues. In public speeches and campus events alike, Kirk repeatedly spoke about opposing abortion and denouncing LGBTQ rights. Once, he called the 1964 Civil Rights Act a “huge mistake.”

In an aerial view, pedestrians walk by a newly installed Charlie Kirk Way sign on April 29, 2026, in Westminster, Calif.

The street sign instantly became a political lightning rod in Westminster. The installation of the sign on Tuesday, April 28, drew both support and ire; one person speaking toKABC-TVcalled the sign “so hateful,” while others were convinced it wasn’t real.

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Source: Drudge Report