Freshman Leeba Curlin gazed at a mural painting of Charlie Kirk with red pigment smeared across his face.
On Sept. 18, students gathered in memorial around the Rock with lit candles and flowers to honor the right wing activist.
Sometime overnight, someone smeared red paint across Kirk’s face.
On the evening of Sept. 18, students gather for a candlelit vigil at the Rock.
“It should appall us that someone would deface a mural like this of someone who was so passionate about freedom, about the values of our country, about free speech,” Curlin said.
“The Rock” is located at the intersection of Pat Head Summitt street and Volunteer boulevard, and has been a public platform for students to paint for more than 50 years on the University of Tennessee’s campus.
The red paint obscures Kirk’s face.
Kirk, who recently died in a shooting on Utah Valley University’s campus, has sparked a nationwide movement of vigils, rallies and conversations about gun violence.
On Sept. 19, students and faculty passed by the Rock to observe the paint smears, which also included black paint that covered the phrase, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Passersby are shown on live video footage taken of the Rock. Observers shared their thoughts on the defacement of the Kirk mural, with some saying they find it to be disrespectful to Kirk’s wife and kids.
Senior Vannessa Torres wasn’t sure what she was looking at initially. She questioned if it was all one piece or if someone had vandalized it.
Jeff Dodson, a grad student in sports management said that, “I think it can be honestly considered a gross misuse of his image to politicize his death in a way that just targets people that you disagree with.”
No information has been given on the individual who added the red and black paint to the mural.
“I mean, even just for someone to take the time to paint such a beautiful mural, even if you don’t care about human rights — or life — you are defacing somebody’s artwork,” Curlin said.
