PA State Holiday To Honor Charlie Kirk To Be Proposed

PENNSYLVANIA — A state legislator is prepared to introduce legislation that would establish an annual state holiday in honor of political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last week during a public event in Utah.

Republican state Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County wants to make the first Monday of August each year "Charlie Kirk Day" in Pennsylvania.

"Charlie Kirk was a tireless advocate of free speech and civil debate, particularly on the campuses of our nation’s colleges and universities – even during a period of harshly curtailed freedom of expression on those very campuses," Diamond wrote in a memo to colleagues seeking support for his impending legislation.

"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."

Kirk was shot in the neck while addressing a crowd at the Utah Valley University last week. A suspect, Tyler Robinson, 22, has been arrested in connection with the killing.

Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of President Donald Trump.

"Honoring Charlie Kirk’s life and work would continue Pennsylvania’s long history as the nation’s foremost guarantor of free speech – a legacy dating back to our Commonwealth’s 1776 Constitution, in which we were the first state in the world to enshrine the freedom of speech in a constitution," Diamond stated.

"By establishing Charlie Kirk Day on the first Monday of each August, the month when college and university students traditionally return to campus, we can honor his legacy and continue his work to celebrate, encourage, and teach peaceful and civil political discourse to all Americans."

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