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A Florida village councilman is under pressure to resign from his post after mocking Charlie Kirk’s shocking assassination as a “fitting sacrifice” to firearm “Lords,” but has so far rebuffed stepping down.
“Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our Lords Smith & Wesson. Hallowed be their names,” Palmetto Bay, Florida, councilman Steve Cody wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post after Kirk’s Wednesday assassination, CBS Miami reported.
The post set off an onslaught of condemnation on social media, including users remarking on Facebook and X that Cody was a “shameful man” and a “disgrace,” while others demanded he be fired.
“If this Facebook post is legitimate, Steve Cody should resign from his position as Palmetto Bay Council member immediately,” Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted to X Thursday.
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In Palmetto Bay, Florida, which is located in Miami–Dade County, the mayor also called on him to resign over the post, while the council voted Monday 4–1 to censure him. Cody was the only council member to vote against the censure.
“As public officials, we are entrusted to lead by example and to uphold the values of respect, empathy, and civility that form the foundation of our democracy,” Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham wrote in her Thursday condemnation of the post. “We must model the kind of peaceful discourse that we want to see reflected in our society.”
“With this in mind, and with great respect for the office I hold, I must call for Councilman Cody to step down,” she added.
The councilman, however, does not plan to step down.
“I will not be resigning,” Cody told Fox News Digital Tuesday when asked about the mounting pressure to resign.
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Cody was first elected as a Palmetto Bay, Florida, council member in 2020, and re-elected to the position in 2024, according to his official council biography. The councilman is an attorney who previously specialized in commercial litigation and mortgage foreclosure defense, the biography outlined.
He has since deleted the post, which included a graphic and 2023 quote from Kirk saying, “it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year” for Second Amendment rights.
Cody authored another Facebook post Thursday backtracking his original remarks but stopping short of elaborating as to whether he would step down.
“I regrettably made a significant error in judgment by sharing a quotation on my personal Facebook page that referenced remarks made by the deceased Charlie Kirk in 2023 concerning the Second Amendment and gun violence,” he wrote. “This action, born out of my deep anger and frustration with the now too common tragedy of gun violence, was misguided.”
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“I want to state unequivocally that this post did not and does not reflect my personal values, my deeply held beliefs, or my solemn responsibilities as an elected official,” he added.
Cody’s Facebook page was no longer available as of Friday afternoon, Fox News Digital found.
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Kirk was assassinated in Utah Sept. 10 while on Utah Valley University’s campus as part of Turning Point USA’s American Comeback Tour, when he was struck by a single bullet to the neck. He was in the midst of speaking with students while sitting under a tent outside when he was shot.
The suspect in the assassination was identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, a Utah native. He was apprehended later Thursday evening, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told the media Friday. Cox added that shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting were inscribed with anti-fascist messaging, shedding light on a political motive behind the tragedy.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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