FILE - This June 11, 2015 file photo, shows the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Republicans in the Oklahoma state Legislature have introduced a bill that would mandate public universities and colleges to erect statues of Charlie Kirk or pay a monthly fine.

Senate Bill 1187, which is sponsored by state Sens. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) and Dana Prieto (R-Tulsa), also requires universities to create a “Charlie Kirk Memorial Plaza” and signage explaining Kirk’s voice as a “modern civil rights leader, vocal Christian, martyr for truth and faith and free speech advocate.”

Failure to comply would force universities to submit a monthly fine equal to 1% of the school’s appropriated budget. And anyone that vandalizes a plaza would have their enrollment or employment at the college terminated.

Jett and Prieto’s bill comes after a viral X post by David Keyes, former spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, showing an AI-generated example of a “Charlie Kirk Free Speech Plaza.”

Even though Republican lawmakers are attempting to cast Kirk as a heroic figure in politics, his worldview was rife with controversy and rhetoric antithetical to civil rights and progress. For instance, Kirk argued that Martin Luther King Jr. was “awful” and that it was a “huge mistake when we [The United States] passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.” He also made numerous misogynistic, racist, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic remarks throughout his life, including fearmongering in 2023 about “prowling Blacks” looking to enact violence against white people.

Jett and Prieto are members of Oklahoma’s Freedom Caucus, which is comprised of far-right lawmakers in the state. The pair also introduced legislation to declare Oct. 14 “Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day” and a resolution to recognize Kirk as a “modern civil rights leader” and “martyr for truth, faith and free speech.” In a press release, Jett continued to gush over Kirk and his legacy.

“Charlie Kirk was a young, bold voice for truth and a faithful servant of Christ, stolen from us by a vile act of political violence,” Jett said. “Now he stands before the Lord, hearing, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Our hearts are with his wife and children as they endure this unimaginable loss. We condemn this evil, and through the introduction of these pieces of legislation in Charlie Kirk’s honor, we will ensure his legacy of courage and conviction lives on in Oklahoma.”

Jett has previously taken issue with a bill that would prohibit the use of corporal punishment against disabled children in schools, calling it a “socialist” policy and a “violation of scripture.”