New Yorkers on either side of the political aisle got here collectively Friday to denounce violence and hateful vitriol within the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
At a small Brooklyn vigil exterior the Barclays Heart, right-wing and left-wing activists managed to agree on one factor — that Kirk, a polarizing political influencer, didn’t need to die only for talking his thoughts.
“We can agree to disagree. We can debate. But violence is never the answer,” stated the Rev. Kevin McCall, a longtime Brooklyn activist.
“Sure, he stated some issues I didn’t agree with. Ninety % of the stuff — no, 100% of the stuff — he says I didn’t agree with. However that doesn’t make him a misplaced soul.
Rev. Kevin McCall leads a prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk exterior the Barclays Heart Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
“The Bible that I read teaches us that we all are human beings, and we can be able to have disagreements,” McCall stated. “But it does not say that you shall take a life because you disagree with them.”
The Brooklyn vigil was considered one of dozens held throughout the nation to honor Kirk within the days after his viral assassination Wednesday on the campus of a Utah college.
Video of Kirk, who was 31, being lower down by a rifle shot throughout a Q&A session flooded social media, and set off one other spherical of finger-pointing and political rhetoric.
Rev. Kevin McCall leads a prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk exterior the Barclay’s Heart Friday, Sept. 12, 2025 in Brooklyn New York, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
Republican Metropolis Councilwoman Inna Vernikov stated Kirk’s homicide was un-American.
“This is the United States of America, for God’s sake,” the Brooklyn Council member stated. “We should be able to have a conversation and disagree with each other civilly without being murdered.”
Vernikov blamed the media for a lot of the political discord.
“The media has to start speaking the truth in this country,” she stated. “They have to. They must stop vilifying people they disagree with. Just because we disagree with each other does not make us nazis or white supremacists. And the media, shame on them, they know this. And they still pushed their very dangerous narratives that lead to something like what happened to Charlie Kirk. It must stop.”
Republican New York Metropolis Councilwoman Inna Vernikov speaks throughout a vigil for Charlie Kirk exterior the Barclays Heart Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
McCall stated activists, no matter their agendas, deserve the proper to talk out with out the specter of violence.
“When I saw the video, of him being murdered in front of the world to see, it broke my heart, as a minister, as a reverend,” McCall stated. “I’m compelled, as an activist, to say that Charlie Kirk could have been me. Just because I stand up for individuals that are marginalized of the African-American, Black descent, and I face and go against injustices that have happened in the Black and brown communities, I get threats all the time.”
The New York Younger Republican Membership was additionally planning a a night vigil for Kirk in Manhattan on the Madison Sq. Park reflecting pool.
Initially Revealed: September 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM EDT
