LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — The City of Liberty Lake will not observe a ‘Charlie Kirk Day’ this month, after a city council vote failed on Tuesday evening.
The Liberty Lake City Council voted 6-1 against declaring October 14 ‘Charlie Kirk Day’ in the city, a proposal meant to honor the late controversial conservative political activist who was killed during a public event in September.
At the beginning of the meeting, Councilmember Linda Ball made a motion to strike discussion of the proclamation from the agenda.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to discuss this, because the individual in question never lived in Liberty Lake and has no ties to Liberty Lake,” she said. “I think it’s going to foster a lot of ill will and I just don’t think it’s smart to bring this up.”
The motion to strike the discussion failed.
The proposed proclamation drew considerable attention with multiple people speaking during the public comment portion of Tuesday night’s meeting.
One commentor in favor of the proclamation said declaring a ‘Charlie Kirk Day’ would be an important reminder for the Liberty Lake community.
“Charlie Kirk was a human and that matters. All lives matter,” she said. “A community thrives when people work together and don’t continue down a divisive path. We need to have morals. There is good and there is evil. When did public execution become something okay to cheer about? What happened to compassion? This was a young man and a father of two young children… This proclamation is a reminder that if this community wants to be dignified and remain strong, we must return to morals, service, compassion and the shared values that unite us.”
A majority of public commentors spoke in strong opposition to the proposal.
A U.S. Army Veteran who spoke said that while Kirk’s death was “a despicable act of political violence that we must all condemn,” it is not an appropriate cause for a day of honor.
“Here is the honest truth that we must confront. We can and must condemn the violence that stole a life without endorsing the vision that defined that life that was taken,” he said. “Our city’s highest honor should be reserved for those who build bridges, not burn them.”
He went on to mention the city’s lack of action regarding the recent political assassination of Minnesota representative Melissa Hortman.
“It would seem that this council is not just endorsing Charlie Kirk, but his politics as well. The standard for a city honor must be a legacy of unifying people,” he said.
During the City Council’s discussion, several motions to change various language throughout the proclamation were made, accepted and denied.
The final version of the proclamation to establish a ‘Charlie Kirk Day’ in Liberty Lake failed with all city council members voting against, except for Jed Spencer, who authored the proclamation.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
