He pointed out the paint on Kirk’s neck and that the name “Jesus” appeared to be almost fully blotted out by paint.
“Charlie, he was non-violent, and he suffered violence,” Elliott said.
“He didn’t even cuss,” chimed in Jason Agan, another Mesa resident standing nearby.
Agan said the vandalism didn’t appear to be random.
“They knew what they were doing,” Agan said.
Both Agan and Elliott spoke to an increasing political polarization, which Elliott said he believed could intensify after the incident. Agan, who attended a 2025 memorial following Kirk’s death, said his initial thought seeing the statue outside of the Turning Point fence was that it could be vulnerable to vandalism.
“Man, someone’s gonna get it,” he recalled thinking.
Turning Point Action Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bowyer wrote in a post on X when the statue was erected that the statue was placed outside the gates “so that others can enjoy it before it finds its final spot.” In response to a comment from a woman concerned about vandalism, Bowyer wrote that it would be moved behind the fence at some point.
Turning Point leaders condemn vandalism
Turning Point officials and allies, including Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, condemned the vandalism and issued a rallying cry to get out the vote.
Turning Point USA contributor and alt-right activist Jack Posobiec wrote in a post on X that there were cameras “all over” the headquarters gate and “the perpetrators WILL be brought to swift justice.”
Bowyer wrote on X that leaders of the organization “woke up to radical criminals vandalizing our Headquarters” the morning of Sept. 13.