Fort Worth mayor condemns City Council member over Charlie Kirk post
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker condemned City Council member Elizabeth Beck on Thursday for her response to the murder of Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist.
Kirk, who founded the advocacy group Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck Wednesday during a political event on the Utah Valley University campus. President Donald Trump announced his death within hours of the single shot hitting Kirk.
Before his death was publicized, Beck, a Democrat, posted a 2023 Newsweek headline which quoted Kirk saying gun deaths are “unfortunately” a worthwhile cost to protecting the Second Amendment. She added the word “unfortunate” on top of Kirk’s photo and posted it to her private Instagram story.
Quickly after, Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French posted a screenshot post and called for the council member’s removal from office.
“Leftist Fort Worth City Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck has stooped to a new low,” French said on X. “She is publicly celebrating the death of a young husband of father of two young children.”
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement that Beck’s action “essentially” condoned violence.
“When you take an oath of office, you have a responsibility to encourage civility, kindness, and decency,” Parker said on X. “As elected officials and community leaders, we are held to the highest standard, and we owe it to the people we represent to always be above board.”
Beck said the backlash she is getting is an example of the “bigger problem — extreme tribalism.”
“As a society, we seek out reasons to be angry at each other, as opposed to starting from a place of commonality,” Beck said in a written statement. “My thoughts on political violence are clear, [it] cannot and should not be tolerated in this nation. Left. Right. Center. Period. We must have a serious discussion on how we engage in discourse and what has become acceptable and unacceptable.”
Fellow Council member Chris Nettles said in a statement condoning violence is never ok, but that’s not what Beck did.
“The Councilmember in question used the word ‘unfortunate’ in a post related to yesterday’s tragic incident,” Nettles said. “That is not condoning violence — it’s acknowledging a tragic reality. To twist that word into an endorsement of violence is disingenuous and inflammatory.”
Nettles said the mayor’s insinuation that Beck was “ok” with the assassination of Kirk was a reckless and dangerous attack that further divides the city.
“Preaching unity while practicing division never goes hand in hand,” he said.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 4:43 PM.