A routine Cuyahoga County Council meeting erupted into controversy this week when Council President Dale Miller called for a moment of silence to honor Charlie Kirk, the recently assassinated conservative activist known for his inflammatory rhetoric.
The surprise tribute prompted three Black council members to walk out in protest, and Today in Ohio podcast hosts wondered Wednesday why the whole council did not follow their lead. The meeting exposed some deep divisions within local government and raised questions about who deserves public honors.
“Vice President Yvonne Conwell, who is black, objected immediately, saying she couldn’t honor someone who’d made such racist remarks about black Americans,” Leila Atassi said. . “She walked out, and fellow members Meredith Turner and Pernel Jones followed her. Many in the audience applauded their decision.”
The decision to honor Kirk, who built his brand on provocative statements that sometimes targeted Black Americans, struck many as tone-deaf at best and deeply offensive at worst – particularly in Cuyahoga County, which has a rich history of civil rights leadership.
“I can’t believe some of them stayed in their seats. I think all of them should have gotten out. This is offensive. Look, this is the city that elected the first black mayor of a major city in America. This is a city that has long, long respected civil rights,” said Chris Quinn.
While Miller later defended his decision as a stand against political violence regardless of ideology, critics cried foul.
“There’s a difference between condemning the violence that took Kirk’s life and holding him up as someone worthy of honor,” Atassi said. “And many people have been clear in the aftermath of the assassination that we can and should speak out against the toxic forces that led to Kirk’s assassination without crossing the line necessarily into celebrating a man whose words so often demeaned other people.”
The hosts questioned whether Miller applies moments of silence consistently. The selective nature of this tribute made its divisive impact even more troubling.
“How many times has Dale Miller called a moment of silence for the dozens of people who are mowed down by violence in Cleveland?” Quinn asked, highlighting what he saw as a double standard.
The incident reveals the challenges public officials face in responding to national tragedies involving polarizing figures. While Miller may have intended to “rise above the fray” with his call for a moment of silence, in practice it landed as an endorsement of Kirk himself – a man who had mocked Michelle Obama’s appearance, questioned the intelligence of Black leaders, and railed against diversity efforts.
For the three council members who walked out, and for many in the audience who applauded their decision, refusing to participate was not about partisan politics but about drawing a moral line against rhetoric they view as harmful to their communities.
As Quinn put it, “In Cuyahoga County, there is no need to create this division. So much so that three council members felt that they had to get up and walk away.”
Listen to the discussion here.
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