Defying a directive from Gov. Kim Reynolds, the elected leader of a county that's home to Iowa City and the University of Iowa said he won't lower flags to honor Charlie Kirk. Jon Green, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, condemned the killing of the conservative activist but said he will "not grant Johnson County honors to a man who made it his life's mission to denigrate so many of the constituents I have sworn an oath to protect, and who did so much to harm not only to the marginalized, but also to degrade the fabric of our body politic." Green said he'll accept any consequences of his decision, the Des Moines Register reports.
Reynolds responded in a post saying, "It's disgraceful that a locally-elected official has chosen to put politics above human decency during a time like this." Green, a Democrat, said he made his decision partly because Reynolds has not issued a similar order to honor other victims of political violence, including Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed in June along with her husband, Mark.
"She was assassinated because of her politics, and for the governor of a neighboring state to fail to acknowledge that and to show her and her family the deference, respect and societal mourning that is both appropriate and I think necessary was a grievous disappointment," Green told the Gazette. Reynolds did post a statement online at the time denouncing the Minnesota shootings. "Johnson County flags will fly as usual," Green wrote.
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