Italian artist Sergio Furnari plans to unveil a statue of the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in Times Square, an effort which he says has left him with threats.
“It’s going to be in the middle of Times Square, the center of the universe,” Furnari said in a video of the statue on social media. “You can bring over whoever you want, family or friends. If you were a big fan of Charlie, this will be your opportunity to maybe find a little bit of peace or harmony.”
In a separate video, the artist explained that he “did not agree with 99.9% of whatever he was talking about, but there’s the 0.001% that I agree with him. At the moment you kill or assassinate people just because you don’t agree with somebody, that’s when you become like the worst country ever.”
“Now, to all the haters, how many times you guys want to kill Charlie?” Furnari asked in a video. “I mean, wasn’t one time enough? To all of you guys out there that want to come and destroy…want to bring a drill bat and some spray paint, and you want to destroy him, you want to burn him, come on guys. The guy’s dead. I mean, if you guys are afraid of a statue, there’s something really wrong with you. It’s just a statue. The message is simple: freedom of speech. I’m exercising my First Amendment [right] which is freedom of speech. That’s all it is.”
The artist faced similar backlash for designing a bust of President Trump. “I’m not into that stuff at all. I like Trump, but that’s it. I’m basically talking, you know what I mean? You know, it felt like I’m a MAGA, you know, or I’m Republican, or I am a Democrat,” he told Fox News. “I’m an artist, that’s it. I never voted, never will.”
“Yeah, it’s not about politics,” he reiterated. “You know, this is not like a political statement. This is just like a guy that got killed and then got bullied.”
According to The New York Post, the statue will be unveiled on Sep. 10 at 2:23 p.m. The statue depicts Kirk wearing a gray sweatshirt with “FREEDOM” across his chest, holding a microphone.
