An Italian-born sculptor, Sergio Furnari, is unveiling a bronze statue of Charlie Kirk in New York's Times Square on 10 September, timed to the exact minute of the conservative activist's assassination a year earlier at Utah Valley University. Furnari says he funded the roughly $100,000 (£/costs excluded) tribute himself and hopes it will encourage dialogue rather than division, despite having disagreed with much of Kirk's politics, framing the work instead as a statement about free expression and artistic freedom.

The 6ft 5in statue, painted bronze, depicts a seated Kirk holding his trademark microphone and wearing a T-shirt reading "FREEDOM"; it took roughly five months to complete after an initial test version made in December. Furnari, previously known for a 40-foot Cristiano Ronaldo sculpture, has launched an online fundraiser to help recoup costs, offering donors engraved recognition on the monument's base. He says he has received large volumes of hostile messages and threats, including mockery of Kirk's death and threats to deface the statue, but insists he is undeterred.