Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Political Violence topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Heated debate over resolution "honoring Charlie Kirk"; several delegates urge amendment to focus on condemning political violence
Summary
Delegate Pippe presented a resolution modeled on federal language condemning the assassination of Charlie Kirk but including numerous paragraphs that praise or describe Kirk; committee members pressed the sponsor to remove honorific references and narrow the text to condemn political violence only.
House Joint Resolution 1, introduced by Delegate Pippe, prompted sustained questioning and conflict in committee. The resolution as filed includes multiple "whereas" paragraphs describing Charlie Kirk nd contains language the sponsor said he copied verbatim from congressional resolutions that followed Kirk—eing killed.
"It condemns the assassination," the sponsor said, explaining he took language used in Congress and placed it in a Maryland resolution to express bipartisan condemnation of political violence.
Several members pushed back, arguing the title and much of the resolution focus on honoring a controversial public figure who, they said, had publicly made denigrating statements about Black people and other groups. "This bill is called 'honoring Charlie Kirk' ... all but six of those paragraphs speak to Charlie Kirk," Delegate Wilkins said, and multiple members argued that honoring the individual went beyond condemning political violence.
Delegate Collison and others proposed amending the resolution to remove references to Charlie Kirk and retain only language that condemns political violence; the sponsor said he would consider committee amendments and repeated that he did not intend to endorse controversial statements the late speaker had made.
The committee concluded the public hearing on HJ 1 without adopting a final amendment on the record. Members agreed the matter raised important questions about whether a resolution should memorialize the person or solely condemn violence.
What happens next: The sponsor indicated openness to amendments narrowing the resolution to condemn political violence only; the committee will consider those changes before any referral.
