Westminster to rename street for Charlie Kirk amid community opposition

The City Council of Westminster, California — home to the nation’s largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans — voted 4-1 last Wednesday to partially rename a street after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, sparking heated debate over political priorities in the heart of Little Saigon.

What they voted for: Council members approved adding “Charlie Kirk Way” in three-inch lettering beneath existing “All American Way” street signs between Westminster Boulevard and 13th Street. The addition, which runs alongside the Vietnam War Memorial and comes at an estimated cost of $3,000, will not change the official street name, affect addresses or appear on Google Maps. The council also designated Oct. 14 as Charlie Kirk Day in a separate 3-2 vote.

Kirk, 31, co-founded the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA and was fatally shot Sept. 10 during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, a Republican running for Congress in 2026, introduced the proposal to honor someone who “encouraged a new generation to care about their country.” Meanwhile, Councilmember Amy Phan West, who is also running for Congress, criticized the small font size, saying officials should “honor them correctly and properly.”

Driving the news: Westminster sits at the center of Little Saigon, which also covers parts of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana and is home to more than 215,000 Vietnamese Americans — the largest concentration outside Vietnam. The group comprises up to 45% of Westminster’s 90,000 residents. This community, like others across the country, has historically backed conservative politicians and figures. Many older voters see strong connections between the GOP and the former Republic of Vietnam, the South Vietnamese government that fell to communist forces in 1975, with the Vietnamese term “Cong Hoa” (Republic) forming part of the Republican Party’s name in Vietnamese, “dang cong hoa.” There is also a persistent admiration for Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who led during the Cold War era, as well as GOP positions on the economy and hardline opposition to China and Vietnamese communist leadership.

Vietnamese American party affiliation, however, has shifted in recent years at the national level. Those feeling closer to Republicans dropped from 35% in 2020 to 19% in 2024, while a majority of 59% remain unaffiliated with either major party.

Community reactions: Despite their city’s conservative lean, most of the roughly two dozen residents who spoke at last Wednesday’s meeting opposed the street renaming. Veteran Michael Verrengia said he was “against spending tax dollars to name the street after Charlie, as much as I like him,” noting Kirk “didn’t live in Westminster” and “didn’t do anything for Westminster.”

Councilmember Carlos Manzo, the only Democrat on the council and the sole no vote, accused his colleagues of “exploiting a tragedy for political gain” and trying to “out Republican each other” ahead of their 2026 congressional races. Meanwhile, some speakers suggested the city should instead honor the Mendez family, whose 1940s lawsuit ended the segregation of Mexican American students in California schools.

Days before his death, Kirk traveled through Asia delivering anti-immigration speeches. In Tokyo, he told an audience that foreigners were “very quietly and secretly funnelling themselves into Japanese life” seeking to “erase, replace and eradicate Japan by bringing in Indonesians, by bringing in Arabs, by bringing in Muslims.” He praised Sanseito, a nationalist party he described as being “all about kicking foreigners out of Japan.” He also said “America does not need more visas for people from India,” claiming Indian immigrants were taking American jobs and declaring “we’re full.”