Liberty Lake council approves Oct. 14 proclamation honoring Charlie Kirk after heated public comment

The Liberty Lake City Council approved a proclamation at its Oct. 7 meeting designating Oct. 14, 2025, as a day of recognition connected to Charlie Kirk, the national political commentator who was killed earlier this year. The motion, moved by Council member Spencer and seconded for discussion, passed on a recorded 6-1 vote after council members debated and amended parts of the proposed language.

The item drew more than an hour of public comment and repeated calls from residents on both sides of the issue. Many speakers urged the council to remove the proclamation from the agenda or amend it to focus on local victims of gun violence and a denouncement of political violence. Robert Atkins, a Liberty Lake resident, said, “I urge the council to vote no,” adding that he found much of Kirk’s rhetoric “racial, bigoted, and clothed and cloaked in religion.” Lynn Atkins told the council she was “deeply disappointed” to see the proclamation and said it “promotes Christian nationalism.” Several others described the proclamation as partisan and divisive; Kim Schmidt called the item “blasphemous” and urged the council to focus on “public safety.”

Other residents urged the council to recognize the human toll of the killing without endorsing the person’s politics. Michael Willis, a Navy veteran and resident, said the city should condemn political violence but should “reserve [its] highest honor for those who build bridges, not burn them.” Robin Johnson, a resident who said she lives near Liberty Lake but outside city limits, emphasized mourning the loss of life: “Charlie Kirk was a human, and that matters. All lives matter,” she said.

On the council floor, Council member Spencer, who introduced the proclamation, defended the document as a recognition of civic engagement and faith communities and said he intentionally did not include specific condemnations of political violence in the text before the council. Council member Kurtz and others proposed language changes and broader civic-engagement alternatives. Council member Dunne sought to remove a clause that read, in part, "honor those whose contributions align with the values that the City of Liberty Lake holds dear," arguing the phrasing was “false and indefensible.” That request (to strike the later portion of the fifth recital) carried, with the council adopting a narrower formulation by a 5-2 vote. Council members also approved a separate amendment adding the year “2025” to the proclamation’s date; other suggested edits failed.

After the edits, the council put the proclamation to a roll-call vote and approved it 6-1. The council did not adopt a separate, citywide resolution condemning political violence at that time, though several council members and staff said they would pursue broader civic-engagement and anti-violence options in follow-up work. Council members said they had received heavy public comment and numerous phone calls about the item in advance.

The discussion illustrated divisions in the community over whether municipal proclamations should recognize nationally known but politically controversial figures. Several residents urged the council instead to honor local victims of gun violence or adopt a unifying statement condemning all political violence; some council members said they would work on a broader civic-engagement resolution for a future agenda.

The council’s action did not change other proclamations or city business on the agenda. The adopted proclamation had several wording changes from the draft language presented at the start of the meeting; the text on the city website will be updated with the amended language.

Ending: The proclamation will be applied to Oct. 14, 2025, as adopted, and council members and staff said they will follow up with options for additional, nonpartisan actions centered on condemning political violence and promoting civic engagement.