Italian artist Sergio Furnari is seeking support for a Charlie Kirk statue he plans to unveil in Times Square in September.
"It’s going to be in the middle of Times Square, the center of the universe," Furnari said in one of his videos on the statue's process over the weekend. "You can bring over whoever you want, family or friends. If you were a big fan of Charlie, this will be your opportunity to maybe find a little bit of peace or harmony."
Furnari has been developing models of the late Turning Point USA founder since last year after Kirk was assassinated during a Utah Valley University event. The Italian sculptor has been documenting his process and the inspiration behind the design through videos on his Instagram account.
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In one of his earliest videos on the statue from November, Furnari revealed that he was not a fan of Kirk prior to his death but admired Kirk's efforts to open dialogue with people who disagreed with him.
"I did not agree with 99.9% of whatever he was talking about, but there's the 0.001% that I agree with him. At the moment you kill or assassinate people just because you don't agree with somebody, that's when you become like the worst country ever," Furnari said.
Furnari has been promoting his work on a larger statue of Kirk since then and has announced plans to display it for Sept. 10 on the one-year anniversary of his death.
In recent videos, Furnari revealed that he has received threats against him and the statue ahead of its unveiling.
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"Now, to all the haters, how many times you guys want to kill Charlie?" Furnari asked in a video on Tuesday. "I mean, wasn't one time enough? To all of you guys out there that want to come and destroy...want to bring a drill bat and some spray paint, and you want to destroy him, you want to burn him, come on guys. The guy's dead. I mean, if you guys are afraid of a statue, there's something really wrong with you. It's just a statue. The message is simple: freedom of speech. I'm exercising my First Amendment [right] which is freedom of speech. That's all it is."
In a comment to Fox News Digital, Furnari said that he was not too concerned about any backlash against the statue, saying critics "bark like chihuahuas" but "they don't bite."
He described facing similar issues after sculpting a bust of President Donald Trump, which he similarly displayed for his 80th birthday.
"I'm not into that stuff at all. I like Trump, but that's it. I'm basically talking, you know what I mean? You know, it felt like I'm a MAGA, you know, or I'm Republican, or I am a Democrat. I'm an artist, that's it. I never voted, never will. Yeah, it's not about politics. You know, this is not like a political statement. This is just like a guy that got killed and then got bullied," Furnari said.
Furnari has set up a GoFundMe page for his "bigger than life size" Kirk statue, writing that he has sold his apartment to continue funding the project.
