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In the six weeks since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, discourse about the conservative podcaster’s life and legacy has frequently devolved into a heated debate.
The latest furore has to do with proposals to erect a statue to Kirk.
The controversy began when Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry asked Louisiana State University administrators to “find a place” for the statue.
“We’re going to challenge the LSU Board of Supervisors to find a place to put a statue of Charlie Kirk to defend free speech on college campuses,” Landry said, according to fox news.
“Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the first campus to do it,” Landry.
In a post on Bluesky, professor emeritus Robert Mann, who retired from LSU in 2024, criticized the idea and compared Kirk to the late Grand Wizard of the KKK, David Duke.
“If Jeff Landry wants a statue of a white nationalist on LSU’s campus, it shouldn’t be Charlie Kirk,” Mann wrote.
“Shouldn’t I honor our local racists, like David Duke (who actually went to LSU)?”
Numerous educators and students across the state of Louisiana were quick to echo Mann’s comments.
LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson also criticized Landry’s call for a monument to Kirk on campus.
“For the sake of clarity,” he wrote in X, according to TMZ“if you align with or support his racist rhetoric and discriminatory views towards people of color, I respectfully ask that you use the unfollow option at the top right of my profile.”
“So my governor wants LSU to put up a statue of someone who created an organization with the specific objective to attack and harass teachers,” wrote Nicole Gasparini, associate professor of environmental sciences at Tulane University.
Johnson, a senior guard for the LSU Tigers, has not commented further on the decision.
Which makes sense, as she made quite clear in her initial comment.
Landry has not responded to criticism surrounding his comment, and it could be a dead issue, as the idea of a memorial to Kirk does not appear to have much support among LSU administrators and staff.
After all, Kirk didn’t have strong ties to the school, and the idea of commemorating a recent, controversial political figure to protect free speech doesn’t make much sense.
In all likelihood, Governor Landry was simply using Kirk’s death to further his political agenda, a trend that is almost certain to continue in the months and years to come.
