Influencer Hannah Brown has spoken out about her decision to attend the public memorial service for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
“First of all, I’m not MAGA [and] I was not at a MAGA rally. I went to a memorial for Charlie Kirk,” Brown said in a Wednesday, September 24, TikTok video. “[Charlie was] a man, who was brutally assassinated in front of thousands of people. [He was] a man, who has a wife and children who will never get to see him again.”
She continued, “Despite our differing beliefs, [he was] a man who didn’t deserve to die. I don’t agree with a lot of what Charlie believed, [but] do I think that means he should be shot and killed? No, and if you disagree with that, we truly have nothing in common.”
Kirk, who was 31, was shot and killed earlier this month during a speaking engagement in Utah. The Turning Point USA founder was later mourned in a public memorial in Arizona on Sunday, September 21, attended by Charlie’s wife, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve), President Donald Trump and thousands more, including Brown.
“I was so disturbed last Wednesday when I opened TikTok, and I had to watch the video of him being assassinated,” Brown said in her Wednesday upload. “[I] was even more disturbed when I opened the comments, and all of them were celebrating and rejoicing his death. I did not go to the memorial to align myself with any political views or to make a political statement.”
Brown stressed that she solely chose to attend the service to “pay [her] respects” to Charlie as “a human [who] died.”
“Everyone attacking me for going to a memorial, really listen to that. A man was murdered,” she said. “Whether or not you believe his political beliefs is truly irrelevant because, truly, if you are against gun violence, you cannot celebrate when someone you don’t like gets shot. You are a hypocrite.”
Brown, known for her viral videos on the service industry, further noted that she didn’t care whether she loses social media followers as a result of her support. (As of publication, Brown has more than 825,000 TikTok followers.)
“If you want to unfollow me, completely fine,” Brown stated. “I would rather have zero followers, then have hundreds of thousands of people who celebrate the death of a man who just wanted to speak. But, just know there is nothing you can take from me that matters. That’s really all I have to say about that. Jesus is king.”
Brown also offered her gratitude to “anyone who is still supporting” her amid the controversy.
“I love you so much, and I appreciate you,” she concluded. “And for the people who are attacking me or unfollowing me, I love you, too.”
Charlie is survived by his wife, 36-year-old Erika, and the couple’s two children.
“Charlie loved his children and he loved me with all of his heart and I knew that everyday. He made sure I knew that everyday,” Erika said in a social media statement after Charlie’s death, breaking her silence on the tragedy. “Everyday he would ask me, ‘How can I serve you better? How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better father?’ … He was a such a good man. He still is such a good man. He was the perfect father. He was the perfect husband.”
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