The Oct. 7 Town Council call to the public began dramatically when 22-year resident Wendy Dachel called the proposal to rename our community center after Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk “abhorrent.” I agree.
I admittedly cringed — not because of her words, but because of what they revealed. Who finds comfort in rhetoric that demeans women, the gay community, people of color and the transgender community?
Ms. Dachel didn’t espouse these views; she exposed them — views expressed by Turning Point’s founder. Dachel’s voice, however, was not welcomed by Turning Point employee, potential Town Council candidate and invocation presenter Ben Larrabee, who loudly interrupted from the audience’s third row. Within seconds, Councilmember and Turning Point employee Hannah Larrabee joined in, “What does this have to do with the town?” Moments later, Mayor Friedel took his cue, declaring, “This isn’t directly related to the town.”
Yet the informed and determined Dachel continued.
Friedel and the Larrabee tried to silence her, yet at the Sept. 16 meeting a speaker urged, “Rename the community center after Charlie — the Charlie Kirk Freedom Center.” She was not gaveled. She was not interrupted. At that same meeting, Ben Larrabee claimed Kirk was “slain by the radical left.” Again — no gavel, no interruption. And in a Sept. 19 Fountain Hills Times Independent letter, Councilmember Skillicorn likewise proposed renaming the community center after Kirk.
Friedel and the Larrabees may have tried to derail Ms. Dachel, but Kirk and Turning Point’s record speaks for itself — built on rhetoric that is ugly, harmful and incendiary. These views should never be honored. Fountain Hills must reject this notion to ensure our community is welcoming to all.
