Slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk appears to have had a younger sister with a radically different political worldview.
Mary Kirk, 29, is a Chicago-based art curator who, according to her own social media, is a longtime support of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“#Tbt to when I met Bernie a year ago and had no idea who he was and now he is the light of my life,” Mary, who is on Facebook under an alias, wrote below a photo of her shaking hands with Sanders in 2016.
At one point, Mary seemed at least loosely aligned with her older brother’s views. In 2011, she was a member of the Wheeling Young Republicans in suburban Chicago—an organization Charlie had once led during high school, according to the Daily Mail.
But by 2015, her politics had clearly shifted. That year, she began sharing photos of Sanders and urging her followers to vote in the Illinois primaries.
Raised in what’s been described as a politically moderate household, Mary has largely avoided the spotlight.
Yet her social media activity suggests she’s spent years championing some of the very causes her brother aimed to discredit.
A few months ago, Mary urged followers to donate to the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana, a nonprofit museum dedicated to slavery education whose federal funding was cut under the Trump administration.
“Whitney Plantation is an inspiring example of what slavery education should look like in the US,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “Please support if you can!”
Her brother, meanwhile, has spoken out against what he’s called “Black-centered education.”
Mary also shared calls to action from the American Alliance of Museums, encouraging followers to pressure Congress to protect funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services—another target of the Trump administration.
Mary did not immediately respond to comment.
Close friends of the Kirks reportedly say Mary’s swing to the left did not result in a family rift, the Mail reported.
Robert Kirk, 73, an architect, and Kathryn Kirk, 68, a mental health counselor, aren’t political junkies, the outlet reported.
Kirk, 31, was shot on Wednesday at a campus event in Orem, Utah, one of many he had scheduled as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” The tour was put on by Turning Point USA, the conservative group he founded when he was 18.
In the days since, some right-wing figures and politicians have been declaring “war” on the left, despite authorities not yet identifying a clear motive behind the shooting.
Still, the calls for a political showdown have only escalated, with the president himself using the horrific killing as a way to further denounce Democrats.
“The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy,” he said during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Friday.
Others across the political spectrum have condemned political violence and commemorated Kirk for his willingness to debate with people of all kinds.
