California Residents Upset Over Renaming of Street After Charlie Kirk: ‘That’s So Hateful’

Residents of a city in Orange County, California, are upset about the decision to put up signs renaming a main road after the late Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk.

Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen defended the decision to put up signs renaming the city’s “All American Way” road to “Charlie Kirk Way,” while speaking to ABC7 in an article published on Wednesday, April 29

“By doing this, we promote the freedom, the freedom of speech, freedom for everyone to engage in open communication here in the city of Westminster,” Nguyen, who is an admitted fan of the political commentator, said.

It’s worth noting that the street, which leads to the city’s Civic Center, will not officially change its name for residents who live there, as it won’t be reflected on their formal address. Instead, signage going up at the physical location will read “Charlie Kirk Way.”

Still, critics of both Kirk and the city council’s decision to rename the street in a 4-1 vote last fall, per a previous report from ABC7, are outspoken about their distaste for the name change.

“I thought it was a joke,” Ann Galvan told the outlet.

Ashley Lawrence from Los Angeles added, “I think that’s so hateful.”

“Are you effing kidding me? Sorry, that was my gut reaction,” said Westminster resident Terry Rains.

Rains previously organized a protest in December 2025 to try and stop the street renaming. He noted that a street called “All American Way” is inclusive and welcomes everyone to the Civic Center, while naming it after a controversial conservative pundit has a different impact.

These are all public buildings, and so tainting the name just completely denigrates the entire… what that stands for,” Rains added.

Kirk was assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Sept. 10, 2025. The alleged gunman, Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested and charged with aggravated murder less than a week after Kirk’s death. He has yet to enter a plea and his trial doesn’t have an official start date at this time.