A California city mayor is defending his city’s decision to install honorary street signs bearing Charlie Kirk’s name near City Hall after some liberal residents criticized the move.
Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen told Fox News Digital that Americans are “lucky we have the freedom of speech here, and we all have to respect that.”
“Nobody should be murdered or assassinated because of promoting freedom of speech,” Nguyen said.
After Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was killed while speaking on a Utah college campus last September, Nguyen proposed redesignating portions of All American Way as Charlie Kirk Way.
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The Westminster City Council approved the proposal in a 4-1 vote in November, and the signs were put up last week in the Orange County city, sparking outrage from some liberal residents who called Kirk a “hateful” figure.
According to ABC7, the redesignation does not officially change the street name or addresses and instead applies to physical street signs between Westminster Boulevard and 13th Street.
Nguyen said the signs were not meant to be political but were intended to celebrate Kirk’s commitment to free speech, a value the mayor said he deeply cherishes as a Vietnam refugee who fled communism.
Nguyen told Fox News Digital that after the fall of Saigon in 1975, his father was taken to a “re-education camp” which was actually a prison, leaving him to help support his family. He later escaped to the United States, where he said he was given a second chance at life.
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“I was able to live American Dream,” he said, describing how he went on to achieve multiple degrees and work as an engineer for McDonnell Douglas, which later became part of Boeing.
“If I were in Vietnam, I wouldn’t have a chance to be who I am today,” he said.
Nguyen said he wanted to honor Kirk because of his commitment to fostering free speech among young people, as well as his patriotism and Christian values.
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He acknowledged the signs have drawn some criticism but said he has received mostly positive feedback from people in the community and from others around the country.
Nguyen pointed to Westminster’s large Vietnamese American population, saying many residents understand the importance of free speech because they or their families fled communist rule.
“I think that the right thing to do is to honor somebody who lived the American Dream and who lived and promoted the rights that we have here,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen is currently running to represent California’s 45th congressional district, saying he believes the community’s concerns about taxes, public safety and businesses leaving California are not being addressed.
California’s 45th District is holding a primary on June 2, 2026, and Nguyen is one of several candidates in the race.
