Je Suis Charlie Kirk: Slain commentator’s legacy lives on at Spokane council meeting

Christian conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed a week ago, but his legacy was on display Monday night at the Spokane City Council meeting, where several speakers identified themselves as the deceased commentator, espoused his worldview and attacked the Democratic Party and its ideals.

It was a moment somewhat reminiscent of the 1960 film “Spartacus,” or perhaps of “Je Suis Charlie,” the campaign of support following the murder of 12 staffers of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015.

Two commenters signed up as “Charlie Kirk” and “Weare Charlie,” although it’s unclear if they were separate individuals or one of the night’s other speakers, as they didn’t appear when called to speak. Another presenter, Jackson Dines, wore a baseball cap embroidered with the words “I am Charlie Kirk.”

“I am Charlie,” began Will Hulings, a regular council attendee.

“Tonight, I need to speak about something from my heart, as someone who comes up here that speaks a lot,” Hulings continued, lamenting what he perceived as conservatives being attacked for their speech. “I’ve experienced death threats, I’ve had someone take me to court; someone you work with took me to court to try to silence me.”

Hulings appears to be referring to a council staffer who unsuccessfully petitioned for a restraining order against him after he posted a doctored photo of her with what she perceived to be semen flowing from her mouth – Hulings told the court it was “slobber” – and made other comments she perceived as a threat to “curb stomp” her. The judge called Hulings “rude” but argued his speech was constitutionally protected.

“I don’t know if you guys care, but the Democrats, you guys are pretty sick,” Hulings continued. “If Joe Biden or a Democrat – any of you guys, if something was to happen to you, I would feel… even though we see things differently, you do mean a lot to me.

“(Kirk) inspired me. I’m almost 50 years old. And he inspired a lot of young people.”

Dines, one of those fans, said that the night before, he had come across the Bible verse John 12:23: “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.”

“That hit me so hard I threw up,” Dines said. “I just couldn’t take it. Another thing I wanted to echo is what Erika Kirk said a couple days ago, ‘The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.’ And I am here to echo that battle cry.”

Justin Haller, another of the council’s most prolific speakers and a man who regularly yells at council members and other members of the public during meetings, who has, on at least one occasion, referred to a council member using a profane, sexist slur during his testimony, decried political radicalism and divisiveness.

“I’m wondering if any of the City Council are willing to denounce the actions of Charlie Kirk’s assassin, because you sure didn’t denounce (Black Lives Matter) when there were riots in the streets and they were looting and breaking windows downtown,” Haller accused.

Local electrician and business owner Kyle Osborn suggested several council members, who are Democrats, were going to hell, though he added that Charlie Kirk would want them to convert to Christianity to prevent that.

“I don’t believe that the Democratic Socialist Party is the right party to even exist on this earth,” he said. “I believe that party is Satanic. If you look at pro-choice … and 15,000 babies being murdered in women’s wombs every year in Washington state; it’s not medically necessary to kill those babies.

“Women just spread their legs, and there’s no consequences,” he added, echoing a sentiment championed by Charlie Kirk, who repeatedly argued abortion was often an attempt to avoid consequences for a woman’s promiscuity.

Osborn turned to Councilman Paul Dillon to ask him why he supports Planned Parenthood, where Dillon worked before he was elected, then turned to Councilman Zack Zappone.

“Why are you a homosexual, when the Bible says …” Osborn started to ask Zappone, the first openly gay candidate to win an election to the Spokane City Council, before Council President Betsy Wilkerson cut him off.

Council rules require speakers to address the council president and not other council members, so Osborn turned to Wilkerson and suggested she was also going to hell, though he didn’t provide a reason.

“I wish all of you would become Christian,” Osborn added. “I don’t want any of you to go to hell – that’s what Charlie Kirk would want me to tell you.”

“I would debate any of you, and I would win,” he concluded, an apparent reference to Charlie Kirk’s practice of traveling to college campuses and filming himself debating students.