One Missouri council honors Charlie Kirk, another passes so as not to offend

The Republican-led St. Charles County Council sent a clear message Monday, unanimously passing a resolution condemning political violence and honoring the life and legacy of the late Charlie Kirk.

The measure denounces all political violence and specifically calls Kirk’s assassination a “cowardly act of violence against the principles of free speech and civil debate.”

Addressing any critics of the resolution, St. Charles County Councilman Joe Brazil emphasized that honoring great figures is a nonpartisan priority.

“We honor a lot of people,” Brazil noted, referencing past honors for figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, who was killed during President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

The unified stance in St. Charles contrasts sharply with the political obstruction just across the county line. Five days after Kirk’s assassination, an attempt by St. Louis County Councilman Mark Harder to pass a similar resolution was rejected by four Democrats and Republican Dennis Hancock.

Councilman Hancock suggested he couldn’t support honoring Kirk if people in the community felt “marginalized” or “offended” by what Kirk had said. “I can’t support that,” Hancock said during the Sept. 15 board meeting.

The opposition was also fueled by the Missouri chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which released a statement against the resolution claiming Kirk’s public record “undermined civil rights” and “spread division.”