Oklahoma Republican legislators introduced a controversial bill that would require colleges and universities to build a memorial in remembrance of Charlie Kirk on campuses.

Kirk, who founded the far-right group Turning Point USA and was known for his inflammatory rhetoric against women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, was assassinated on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University.

The bill indicates that the Charlie Kirk Memorial must be visible and protected on college campuses

The bill indicates all institutions part of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education must establish a square or plaza known as the Charlie Kirk Memorial Plaza. The area should be located in a prominent area on the college’s main campus, highly visible and easily accessible, according to the introduced legislation.

The plans include a statue of Kirk “sitting at a table with an empty seat across from him or a statue of Charlie Kirk and his wife standing and holding their children in their arms as a central element of the square or plaza design.”

The bill also indicates colleges should submit their plan for review to the state by March 1, 2027, and must complete the memorial by the following year. If an institution fails to comply, it would be fined 1% of its appropriated budget for each month of noncompliance.

The bill specifies that the memorial must be protected with barriers or video cameras in order to avoid potential acts of vandalism or defacement. Any student, employee, or faculty member who engages in the defacement or vandalism of statue will be terminated from enrollment or employment.

The news comes as Oklahoma’s state superintendent also announced plans to install Turning Point USA chapters in every high school in the state, according to The Guardian. The goal is to counter “radical leftist teachers unions” and their “woke indoctrination.”

The bill refers to Charlie Kirk as a ‘martyr for truth’ and ‘modern civil rights leader’

Republican legislators introduced the bill in order for these memorials to celebrate Kirk’s life and rhetoric.

Per Fox 23 News, the statue is intended “to remind all to foster an environment of intellectual freedom, civic engagement, and the principles Kirk championed, ensuring that future generations remember his courage, faith, sacrifice, and contributions to American liberty.”

It goes on to describe Kirk as “a voice of a generation, modern civil rights leader, vocal Christian, martyr for truth and faith, and free speech advocate.”

Several of Kirk’s supporters, such as a Georgia representative and a New York police department deputy chief, have compared Kirk to Martin Luther King. Members of the King family firmly denounced the comparisons. MLK’s son Martin Luther King III denounced Kirk’s accusation towards Black women saying they lack “the brain processing power to be taken seriously.”

“When you’re doing that, it’s a disservice to unification,” King said, according to The Guardian. Kirk “certainly was a force in this society and a significant force, but I just disagree with the position that his force was about inclusiveness. When you denigrate Black women and say that somebody is in a position just because of the color of their skin, that’s gravely false.”

John Grosso of the National Catholic Reporter also went against New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who called Kirk “a modern-day Saint Paul,” “a missionary,” “an evangelist” and “a hero.”

“That’s false by any measure,” he wrote. “Any reflection on the legacy of Kirk cannot gloss over the pain and suffering that Kirk inflicted on innumerable people through his harsh, divisive and combative rhetoric.”

Grosso added: “In any conversations about Kirk’s legacy, we cannot ignore his racism, sexism and xenophobia.”