A local Democratic lawmaker in the Miami area is facing demands for his resignation after posting a message on social media stating that Charlie Kirk was a “fitting sacrifice” to gun manufacturers following the conservative activist’s assassination at a Utah college this week.
Steve Cody, a councilman in the Miami-Dade village of Palmetto Bay, sparked outrage this week when he wrote on Facebook: “Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our Lords: Smith & Wesson. Hallowed be their names.”
Smith & Wesson is a well-known manufacturer of firearms.
Soon after Cody’s shocking and heartless post, dozens of angry residents gathered outside Palmetto Bay City Hall on Friday to call for his resignation.
“The damage has already been done. It’s not a question of left or right. This is immoral and it shows which side he is on,” Palmetto Bay resident Chad Heffernan told CBS News Miami.
Kirk was assassinated with a single bullet Wednesday during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. Law enforcement officials took a 22-year-old Utah resident into custody on Friday.
Amid the backlash, Cody admitted he regretted making the post.
“If I had thought about it longer, I probably would have just kept that thought to myself,” Cody told the local CBS affiliate station.
He insisted he will not resign, noting he is term-limited and intends to serve through 2028.
“It was something that I regretted doing … only after it was out, that I realized the pain it would cause not just to Charlie Kirk’s family and friends, but to a much wider community, and that was not my intent,” Cody said.
Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham said Cody’s words were incompatible with his duties as an elected official.
“I find the post itself not fitting of the village of Palmetto Bay as elected officials. We are held to, I think, a higher bar,” Cunningham said.
She added: “It’s certainly not something that I can support, and so I feel like it’s in the best interest of the community for us to pivot in a different direction.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also weighed in, writing on X: “If this Facebook post is legitimate, Steve Cody should resign from his position as Palmetto Bay Council member immediately.”
Multiple left-leaning commentators have ended up in hot water for their statements about the Kirk shooting.
MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd after he said of Kirk: “You cannot harbor these dreadful thoughts and express them without anticipating dreadful actions to follow. This unfortunate environment is where we find ourselves.”
Several prominent Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) blamed President Trump’s rhetoric for the polarized environment that they say contributed to Kirk’s assassination.
Their statements framed Trump’s language as fueling political violence, though they stopped short of directly blaming him for Kirk’s death.
The Post has sought comment from Cody.
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