Pennsylvania lawmaker proposes ‘Charlie Kirk Day’

Pennsylvania lawmaker proposes ‘Charlie Kirk Day’
Pennsylvania lawmaker proposes ‘Charlie Kirk Day’
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania lawmaker said he will propose legislation for a “Charlie Kirk Day” in the state.

Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at an event on a Utah college campus. He was 31 years old.

Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon), who sent a memo seeking cosponsors on Thursday, said the proposed legislation would make the first Monday of each August “Charlie Kirk Day.” He remembered Kirk, who was on the first stop of a debate tour when he was killed, as a “tireless advocate” for debate and free speech.

“This advocacy tragically cost Mr. Kirk his life, with his assassination leaving behind his young wife, children and a nation that will be poorer without his enormous contributions to our public discourse,” Diamond said.

Honoring his work, he said, would continue Pennsylvania’s history of supporting free speech, citing it as the first state to enshrine freedom of speech in a constitution. Diamond noted August as a symbolic choice because it is the month college students return to campuses.

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Kirk’s death garnered swift condemnation in the state.

Just hours after he was shot, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) ordered Commonwealth flags to fly at half-staff.

“Political violence has no place in our country,” Shapiro said. “We must speak with moral clarity. The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.”

Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman (D) and Dace McCormick (R) also released statements condemning the assassination, as have many members of the state’s congressional delegation.


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