Meredith Seaver/College Station Eagle via AP
A proposal to rename a portion of a highway in Texas afterTurning Point USAfounderCharlie Kirkwas dropped Monday after more than 100 local residents showed up to their county commission meeting.
Kirk, 31, founded TPUSA in 2012 and expanded it over the years since to a multimillion-dollar organization that had chapters at colleges across the country and held multiple conferences each year for young conservative activists. He was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on September 10 when he wasfatally shot.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested for Kirk’s murder and is facingseven charges, including aggravated murder. The state is seeking thedeath penalty.
In the aftermath of Kirk’s death,numerous planswere proposed across the country to honor his life, including statues, memorials, andrenaming roads. Although Kirk has been lionized on the right since his death, he hadmany criticsas well, and these proposals have sometimes met with loud opposition, especially where Kirk did not have a clear connection to the local area or the politics are less MAGA.
The renaming plan that was under consideration at the Bastrop County Commission on Monday was to designate a portion of FM 969 (a “farm-to-market road” about 30 minutes east of downtown Austin that is maintained by theTexas Department of Transportation) the “Charlie Kirk Corridor,” according to theAustin American-Statesman.
Bastrop County CommissionerDavid Glassput the proposal on the meeting agenda, along with some “background information” that said the county “recognizes the importance of honoring distinguished individuals whose commitment to civic values, public engagement, and leadership has made a lasting contribution to political life in the State of Texas and the United States,” and “Kirk’s activism emphasized civic participation, free speech, and political engagement among youth, building a national network of student activists and influencing political discourse on college campuses and beyond.”
News of the potential renaming quickly spread in the local community, and according to thelatest reportby theStatesman, the commission meeting was “packed” with “[m]ore than 100 people.”
More than 100 people packed a Bastrop County commissioners meeting on Monday to voice their objections or support for a proposed resolution to rename FM 969 the "Charlie Kirk Corridor."
No action was taken because Commissioner David Glass, who had proposed the resolution, asked…pic.twitter.com/5hu9Wb3K2G
Source: Drudge Report
