This story was originally published by Fresnoland.
The day after Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk was killed during a Utah college event, city and county leaders in Fresno hosted a news conference mourning the high-profile conservative — and they also denounced political violence.
Kirk was killed while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. Federal authorities have still not apprehended the suspect, after releasing two individuals they took into custody.
City Council President Mike Karbassi, joined by at least five other local elected officials at the Thursday news conference, said Kirk’s killing was disgusting.
“Our prayers are truly with Mr. Kirk’s wife and his two children who are now fatherless,” Karbassi said. “But prayers unfortunately, as important as they are — it’s just not going to be enough.”
Karbassi was joined at the news conference by Mayor Jerry Dyer, Councilmember Nelson Esparza and county supervisors Luis Chavez, Garry Bredefeld and Nathan Magsig.
Karbassi said political dialogue in the U.S. needs to tone down. However, elected leaders did not speak to Kirk’s contributions to the current political climate in the U.S. — the Christian nationalist and CEO of Turning Point USA was known for his divisive, bigoted political statements over the last several years.
Local leaders criticized people and social media posts that appear to be celebrating Kirk’s killing, and said it’s unacceptable.
“I also reached out to council president and the city and my colleagues because of the chatter that I’ve seen on social media,” said Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez. “We are now in the space where we are celebrating somebody being violently murdered in front of us, and we can’t have that.”
During the news conference, Mayor Jerry Dyer said he worries about how Americans “will ratchet up the rhetoric on social media and become even more divided as a country.” And he said he fears how that could play out in Fresno.
“Yes, Charlie Kirk was controversial,” Dyer said at the Thursday news conference. “There’s no question. He said things that ignited the emotions of other people, especially those who did not agree — but Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die.”
Dyer also expressed sorrow over how Kirk’s wife and two kids are left without a father. On Wednesday, the second-term mayor posted a picture of Kirk’s family on Instagram. In the caption, he called on people to honor Kirk’s life.