‘Charlie Kirk Corridor’ road name change withdrawn in Bastrop County

BASTROP — More than 100 people packed a Bastrop County commissioners meeting on Monday to voice their objections or support for a proposed resolution to rename FM 969 the “Charlie Kirk Corridor.”

No action was taken because Commissioner David Glass, who had proposed the resolution, asked to table it. He later said in an email to the Statesman that he did not plan to bring up the resolution again.

“I’m going to take a breath and have some more conversations with my constituents,” he said.  

Before asking for the resolution to be tabled, Glass said Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative Turning Point USA organization who was assassinated in September, had inspired millions of young people to engage in politics. Glass said he had received emails all weekend about the resolution but did not provide details about them.

“Not all of us are going to agree, but we can agree to disagree,” said Glass. “I absolutely don’t agree with everything Charlie Kirk said.” 

Kirk, a staunch supporter of gun rights, was shot Sept. 10 while speaking at an outdoor event in Utah for Turning Point USA, which advocates for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses. Tyler Robinson was charged with aggravated murder in connection with Kirk’s death.

Some people have voiced opposition to Kirk’s beliefs, pointing to comments he made that they said harmed women, people of color and LGBTQ people. He condemned the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and said several professional Black women, including Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, “did not have the brain processing power” to be taken seriously. He believed in the “great replacement” theory that holds there is a deliberate effort to force the extinction of white people and said women should focus on being mothers and wives rather than having careers.

Several people at the Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting on Monday held up signs that said “No” to signal their opposition to the resolution to rename FM 969, a state-maintained farm-to-market road running through Bastrop County. Other people clapped and cheered when supporters of the resolution spoke during the public comments section of the meeting, which was held after the resolution was tabled.

In the 30-minute session, each side was given one minute to speak in alternating order.

One of the supporters, Tom Glass, said what Kirk represented for his generation could be compared to what Martin Luther King had represented for a previous generation. “Both impacted Bastropians and Texans, telling them to go back to our religious and foundational principles,” said Glass, who is not related to David Glass. He said there are three roads named after King in Bastrop County.

Sumai Lokumbe, who spoke against the resolution, said comparing King and the work he did for civil rights to Kirk was “a disgrace.” “We need to start promoting equality, we need to start loving each other,” she said.

If FM 969 needs to be renamed, Lokumbe said, it should be named after someone who did something for the Bastrop community. 

Dock Jackson, the Democratic candidate for county judge, said that after enslaved Blacks were freed in 1865, they established a freedom colony in the area of FM 969. “With this history and the fact that Charlie Kirk to my knowledge has no relatives or connection to Bastrop County, I do not feel the court should pass a resolution endorsing this street name change,” he said. 

Mark White, a supporter of the resolution, said Kirk was an “American patriot and Christian” who challenged youths on college campuses to engage in politics.

“His message was grounded in American exceptionalism and a positive spirit of action,” said White. The goal of Kirk’s organization, Turning Point, is to help promote fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets, White said.

Judah Ross, another speaker, also supported naming the road after Kirk. “The abhorrent response to his (Kirk’s) brutal murder is proof enough why we need to honor someone who put the First Amendment first,” said Ross. 

Speaker Ruth Todd disagreed.

“Charlie Kirk was one of the most polarizing figures in politics,” she said. Naming a road in his honor does not unite the community, she said. “It sends a message to a significant portion of our community that their comfort in their home county does not matter.”