US Department of Education hangs Charlie Kirk banner outside DC building | Washington DC
The US Department of Education has hung large banners outside its building in Washington DC, including one with an image of the late far-right commentator Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, who was shot and killed last September while speaking at an event on the Utah Valley University campus, co-founded the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, which advocates and promotes conservative politics among young people, particularly on college campuses.
Photos show that Kirk’s image was displayed on the Department of Education building alongside banners honoring Catharine Beecher, a prominent 19th-century American educator and advocate for women’s education, and Booker T Washington, an influential educator and writer who championed educational opportunities for black Americans in post-Civil War America and became the first principal of today’s Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School in Alabama Tuskegee University.
A banner next to the three figures reads: “Empowering our states to tell the stories of our American education heroes.”
The Department of Education said in a statement: “We are proud to honor visionary leaders whose contributions have shaped the future of education for generations.
“Their work reflects Benjamin Franklin’s timeless belief that ‘the best returns come from an investment in knowledge,’” she said, adding that “as our country marks a historic 250th anniversary, this moment invites us all to join in the pursuit of educational opportunities that enable every learner to rise, contribute, and help shape a better future for generations to come.”
The banner depicting Kirk drew criticism because the commentator was a polarizing figure who had made inflammatory and often racist and sexist remarks during his career. Some online users also noted that Kirk had also called for the Department of Education to be abolished as recently as last year.
Although he once called the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a “mistake,” describing abortion as “worse” than the Holocaust, and saying that “it’s worth the cost of, unfortunately, a few gun deaths every year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” Donald Trump and his allies have hailed Kirk as a “great American hero” and a “martyr” to freedom. In October, Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
The new banners follow the unveiling last month at Justice Department headquarters of a large banner depicting Trump’s face.
