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PENSACOLA, Fla. – In true Charlie Kirk fashion, a group of young people took matters into their own hands after a mural honoring the late conservative leader was defaced with vile messages.
With cans of spray paint in hand, the group added Bible verses and positive notes to what’s known as Graffiti Bridge in Pensacola, Florida – an ever-changing local landmark that often features art, declarations of love, tributes, encouragement, drawings, insignias and more.
“We just wanted to come out here and kind of show our support and make sure that the mural looks nice and pretty,” Hannah Alfredson said. “We just want to put some positive encouraging messages on there for Charlie Kirk.”
The original mural featured a smiling Kirk with the message “Rest in Peace Charlie Kirk.” Following a community vigil Sunday night, vandals struck.
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Under the cover of darkness, vandals defaced the memorial, writing messages like “a good Nazi is a dead Nazi” and “womp womp.” The phrase “Free Palestine” was scrawled across Kirk’s face.
“It’s very disrespectful and so my goal when I came out was to, at bare minimum, cover it, and leave a blank canvas for hopefully less vulgar things,” Mason Vickers, who added several Bible verses to the covered mural, said.
Ben Uitzetter agreed. He said the defacing of the mural was “not okay.”
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“People come by here, probably thousands of people with their kids. You have 5-year-olds, little kids seeing that kind of stuff. You know?” Uitzetter added.
Kirk, a husband and father of two, was assassinated while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Kirk founded Turning Point USA and was a leading voice in the conservative Christian movement. He spoke openly and boldly about his faith in Jesus Christ – a message that resonated with Vickers.
“I think Charlie spoke for very many, so like myself, I’m 25 years old, I am blue collar, I just kind of a working guy, you know, didn’t go to college, I went to a trade school,” he said. “He also kind of embodied everything that the average person was there for… it’s work hard, do your best and try to get as far as you can.”
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Vickers said he had a message for the people that defaced the mural with vulgar messages.
“First, I would like to say I’m praying for you,” he said. “The celebration of any human’s death is vile and honestly evil. I pray that God touches your heart and opens your eyes.”
Vickers said Kirk was all about speech, welcoming anyone who disagreed with him to debate.
“A lot of the people who are cheering on his death… like to paint him as a fascist,” Vickers said. “Open debate and free speech is the complete opposite direction of fascism. In fact, silencing someone, particularly with death – someone who disagrees with you – is arguably the most fascist thing that can be done.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Curto contributed to this report.
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