{"id":470997,"date":"2025-10-03T11:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T11:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/470997\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T11:49:13","slug":"belfast-city-council-to-send-letter-of-condolence-to-family-of-charlie-kirk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/470997\/","title":{"rendered":"Belfast City Council to send letter of condolence to family of Charlie Kirk"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the October meeting of the full council, DUP Alderman Dean McCullough gave a eulogy on the campaigner.<\/p>\n

Kirk was a close ally of President Donald Trump, and his views attracted huge swathes of young people to the MAGA movement, while inflaming liberal observers who believed some of his messaging to be divisive.<\/p>\n

Charlie Kirk promoted free speech and open debates, particularly for young people.<\/p>\n

He was assassinated last month while addressing an audience on the campus of Utah Valley University during a \u201cProve me Wrong\u201d debate, speaking at the moment of the attack about trans issues and guns.<\/p>\n

He was 31 years old, and left behind a wife and two children.<\/p>\n

At a memorial service held following his death and attended by both Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance, Mr Kirk\u2019s widow, Erika, in her own address said in the midst of her grief, she was finding comfort that her husband left this world without regrets.<\/p>\n

She also said she forgave the man who is charged with killing him.<\/p>\n

Kirk, an evangelical Christian who was known for being a fluent speaker and skilful debater, was a big name in the United States, and had a highly successful podcast from 2019.<\/p>\n

\"Councillor<\/p>\n

Councillor Dean McCullough<\/p>\n

DUP Alderman McCullough said before the chamber at Belfast city hall: \u201cAt just 18, Charlie co-founded Turning Point USA, spreading conservative ideas on campuses across America and the wider world. His message was clear: faith and family. It is deeply disappointing to see members opposite smirking during this tribute.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI was privileged to attend a rally at Belfast city hall held in his memory, a rally for free speech. I pay tribute to (TUV) Councillor McDowell, who spoke at that rally. There in the midst of such satanic hate, we saw the hope his life and message continues to inspire, particularly in young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people like Charlie Kirk come along only once in a generation. He was winning the next generation back to the conservative cause, and that, make no mistake, was why he was targeted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe far left could not defeat him in debate, so they cheered on his assassination. Words are not violence, shooting Charlie Kirk in the neck, in front of his wife and children, is violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was asked once in a now famous clip, if he could be associated with one thing, how would he want to be remembered. His answer was: \u2018I want to be remembered for courage for my faith, that would be the most important thing, for the most important thing is my faith\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how he will be remembered. Charlie Kirk is a martyr, a martyr for Christ, a martyr for free speech, and truly with the apostle Paul he can say: \u2018I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked the Lord Mayor to write to Kirk\u2019s widow, Erica, and their children, sending \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d from Belfast. The Mayor agreed.<\/p>\n

\"Charlie<\/p>\n

Charlie Kirk. Photo: Getty<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Thursday 2 October <\/p>\n

Mr Kirk was a provocateur who at times made statements that some called racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic.<\/p>\n

That has drawn backlash from conservatives who view the criticism as cherry-picking a few select moments to insult the legacy of someone they see as an inspirational conservative leader.<\/p>\n

A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Mr Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges.<\/p>\n

Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner following the shooting that he \u201chad enough\u201d of Mr Kirk\u2019s hatred.<\/p>\n

Turning Point, the group Mr Kirk founded to mobilise young Christian conservatives, became a multi-million-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the October meeting of the full council, DUP Alderman Dean McCullough gave a eulogy on the campaigner.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,924,32,601,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-470997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-democratic-unionist-party","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-jd-vance","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115310085227113974","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}