New York City sculptor Sergio Furnari is facing heavy criticism online over his plan to unveil a memorial sculpture of slain right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk in Times Square.
Thousands have poured into Furnari’s Instagram comments to troll and threaten the proposed memorial, which is reportedly set to be unveiled on September 10 to mark the first anniversary of Kirk’s assassination. Crude jokes and punchlines mocking Kirk’s political views and the manner of his killing have accumulated across the artist’s posts, while others have threatened to damage, vandalize, and urinate on the sculpture, saying that NYC will show how it truly feels about Kirk.
“ Now what happens is that the more they threaten me, the more I want to make multiple statues,” Furnari said in a phone call with Hyperallergic. He has also launched a crowdfunding page aimed at raising $150,000 for the sculpture’s debut and future showings; at the time of publication, he had raised about $3,483. As for the unveiling itself, Furnari appears unconcerned about permits or other regulatory issues.
“Permit from who?” he asked rhetorically. “Who’s gotta give me a permit if today I wanna write a song, or sculpt a rose? … God gave me permission.” Furnari, who moved from Sicily to NYC decades ago, is known for figurative sculptures, including a 2025 monument to Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Regarding the Kirk memorial, Furnari said he is neither a “MAGA guy” nor aligned with all of the Turning Point USA co-founder’s views, but he admired Kirk’s commitment to “open dialogue” and strongly disagreed with the way his widow, Erika Kirk, has been treated by the media. “You know, when I used to see him before his death, I was like, ‘Okay, this guy is crazy,’” Furnari told Hyperallergic. He said he wished he could have debated Kirk while he was alive, particularly over immigration, but added, “ But it’s all dialogue in that. That’s why I loved the guy.”
The sculpture depicts Kirk seated and holding a microphone while wearing a crewneck printed with the word “FREEDOM.” Kirk was fatally shot by a rooftop sniper while speaking at a Turning Point debate event at Utah Valley University last year. Shortly after his assassination, New College of Florida said it would commission a public sculpture of the right-wing activist with a microphone to show its dedication to “defend and fight for free speech and civil discourse in American life.”
Kirk’s killing has remained divisive around the world because of his alignment with and promotion of far-right ideals, as well as his public speaking appearances, which often drew controversy for their provocative and offensive content. Commenters on Furnari’s posts have joined in the uproar, thanking him for creating a new public restroom in Midtown. Others have asked why Kirk deserves a memorial at all, calling him “just a podcaster,” though many supporters have also voiced approval for the project.
“There are some people out there who love to dialogue on anything, and then there are others who think they have to use violence just because other people don’t think like them,” Furnari said of the backlash. Kirk’s death also exposed tensions around the First Amendment, as hundreds of people who celebrated or memed the killing, or simply criticized Kirk’s ideology, were censored, doxxed, or professionally punished. Among them was Karen Leader, a tenured associate professor of art history at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) who was placed on leave last year for reposting material critical of Kirk’s views.
It remains unclear whether the September 10 unveiling will actually take place, since Furnari has not coordinated with the Times Square Alliance for any event or display permit. In 2021, the city removed the artist’s red heart sculpture from Central Park — a work funded by a city-issued grant — because he did not have a permit. “I’m not an activist, I’m an artist,” Furnari said.
