Sergio Furnari built a statue of Charlie Kirk. He announced it publicly. The messages started arriving within hours.
Furnari, the New York-based sculptor known for public tributes to Cristiano Ronaldo and YouTube personality IShowSpeed, plans to unveil a bronze monument to Kirk in Times Square on September 10, 2026, the first anniversary of Kirk’s death. One message told him the sender wanted to travel to New York City to burn and urinate on the statue. Another suggested no one would care if Furnari suddenly died.
The Charlie Kirk statue harassment he faces mirrors the cultural divide that opened after Kirk’s assassination. Furnari is caught in it by choice, building something in a city that despised the man it honors.
Who Is Sergio Furnari?
Furnari created the “Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper” statue, an homage to the 1932 photograph of ironworkers eating lunch on a beam during Rockefeller Center’s construction. He also created a 12-foot bronze tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo, unveiled at the football star’s 40th birthday celebration in January 2025, and followed it with a second Ronaldo sculpture depicting the player’s bicycle kick, which debuted at MetLife Stadium during the FIFA Club World Cup in July 2025. He has also created work celebrating IShowSpeed.
The Kirk statue depicts him sitting with a microphone, in a pose that reflects his years on college campuses debating and fielding questions from students. Furnari did not support Kirk during his lifetime and does not identify as a conservative. TMZ reported that Furnari said his interest was sparked by what happened after the shooting, specifically his impression of how Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, carried herself in the aftermath, and by the broader conversation about free speech that the assassination ignited. He hopes the monument brings comfort to Kirk’s supporters and to Erika Kirk herself.
The Statue, the Plan, and the Backlash
Furnari plans to unveil the statue on September 10 in Times Square. The first anniversary of the assassination is a moment he intends to mark with something permanent and visible, at least for however long the city allows it to stand.
Commenters on Furnari’s Instagram page predicted the statue will be destroyed and vandalized within seconds of its display. One wrote, “Don’t bring that (expletive) to NYC; I promise it will get vandalized.” Another added, “From someone who lived in NYC, this Charlie Kirk monument won’t make it overnight without being vandalized.” Comments on X predicted the monument would be destroyed within weeks.
Furnari shared some of the private messages publicly: a message threatening to come to New York to destroy and desecrate the statue, and another suggesting the world would not mourn him. When asked whether the threats worry him, Furnari reportedly responded: “God will be my security.” He also noted that he recently broke his foot, limiting his ability to run from anyone who might show up.
The Cost of Making It
The project has been almost entirely self-funded. Furnari launched a fundraising campaign on GiveSendGo with a $150,000 goal and has raised just over $1,500. The campaign also states that Furnari sold his own apartment to fund the project.
Donors who contribute will have their names engraved on the monument’s platform. Those who give $500 receive a 10-inch handcrafted bust of Kirk. The campaign notes that the project’s TikTok account was banned after a launch video went viral, and the team has been receiving threats and hate mail since the project went public.
The fundraising gap is striking. Furnari is trying to build something using money he has largely sourced himself, on a platform that has raised almost nothing in public donations. The financial pressure is real, and the harassment is making a difficult project harder.
Why Times Square, and Why Now
Times Square is one of the most photographed and heavily trafficked public spaces on the planet. It sits at the center of a city that is politically and culturally distant from the conservative movement Kirk represented. Displaying a tribute to Kirk there creates friction by design.
Kirk’s assassination on September 10, 2025, sparked debate about the limits of freedom of speech in America. Kirk himself, as co-founder of Turning Point USA, was a vocal advocate of First Amendment protections and spent his career debating those limits on college campuses. A statue of Charlie Kirk appearing in one of America’s most liberal cities, funded by a sculptor who sold his apartment to make it happen, is the kind of story that lives between art and provocation.
The reaction it’s already generating, the threats and vandalism predictions, proves his point about free speech being worth defending.
What Actually Happened to Charlie Kirk
According to the FBI, around noon Mountain Time on September 10, 2025, a subject climbed to the rooftop of a building at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. After shooting Kirk, the subject jumped off the roof and fled. Kirk was taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital and pronounced dead hours later. He was 31 years old.
The FBI released video footage of the shooter the following day, showing the subject jumping from the rooftop after the shooting. Trace evidence collected from the scene included shoe impressions, a forearm imprint, and a palm print. About 33 hours after the shooting, the suspected shooter’s parents recognized their son from images released by law enforcement and helped facilitate his surrender.
Tyler Robinson, then 22 years old, turned himself in at the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. According to CNN, prosecutors charged Robinson with aggravated murder, felony use of a firearm, committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Robinson has not yet entered a plea. His five-day preliminary hearing in July 2026 will determine whether the case proceeds to trial.
According to NPR, a Reuters investigation found more than 600 people across the country were fired, placed on leave, or investigated because of social media posts criticizing Kirk or expressing anything other than grief about his death. Teachers, civil servants, nurses, and doctors were among those affected. Conservative influencers and some elected officials actively pushed for the firings, and websites appeared to collect and expose the posts.
Read More: The Biggest Bombshells from the New Trump White House Book: Epstein, Melania, Charlie Kirk Included
What Comes Next
Furnari sold his apartment. He broke his foot. He’s still planning to be in Times Square on September 10. The threats are real, and the fundraising has stalled. Whether the statue survives its first night in Times Square is an open question.
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AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.