The president of Arizona’s state Senate will introduce legislation to rename a highway in honor of Charlie Kirk.
Senate President Warren Petersen said he would propose the legislation at the beginning of Arizona’s next legislative session, which begins in January. He wants to rename Loop 202 in the Phoenix Metro area to the “Charlie Kirk Memorial Loop 202,” ABC15 Arizona reported.
“We all have a role to play in carrying on Charlie’s legacy,” he said. “Through God’s grace, by renaming this highway, we can ensure that his name, his mission, and his witness to the gospel will endure for generations to come. Even in the midst of sorrow, God’s Word reminds us that hope endures.”
“Renaming this highway is a small step toward honoring Charlie’s immense contribution, but it is also a call for each of us to press on in faith, to live courageously for Jesus, and to stand firm in the principles Charlie so boldly championed,” Petersen continued.
Arizona is a natural choice for one of the first memorial renamings in honor of Kirk — he moved Turning Point USA’s national headquarters to the Valley, where the highway is located, in 2018.
At a vigil in honor of Kirk at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, a longtime friend of the slain conservative, Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman, noted that the decision to move his activist organization to “the heartland” was purposeful. He argued that the move was meant to connect more with flyover Americans rather than bigwigs at the capital.
Memorials and tributes to Kirk have sprung up across the nation following his death. Sports teams, public figures, and those in Congress and the White House have all sought ways to pay tribute to the influential youth leader.