Following the killing of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk in September 2025, social media users claimed that "leftists defaced" or "painted over" a rock memorial honoring him at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).
Several posts (archived here and here) featured videos appearing to show an individual painting over the Kirk memorial. Others shared side-by-side images that purportedly showed the rock memorial before and after the alleged incident. Some photos showed the rock painted with a "Black Lives Matter" logo, while others showed it covered in blue, white and pink paint — colors commonly associated with the transgender flag.
In a post (archived) shared on Sept. 16, an X user wrote: "BREAKING: UNC Wilmington refuses to act after leftists defaced a rock memorial for Charlie Kirk and hurled paint at conservative students who tried to intervene."
(@ImMeme0 on X)
In a statement emailed to Snopes, UNCW confirmed that an incident involving a painting on a campus spirit rock occurred after a student-led vigil for Kirk. Students affiliated with the event had painted the spirit rock in Kirk's honor.
According to university officials, the event itself was peaceful, but tensions rose the next day when another group of students attempted to repaint the rock. Some students were splashed with paint during a confrontation, but no arrests were made in connection with the incident, the university said.
As of this writing, Snopes was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the videos appearing to show someone painting over the Kirk memorial. However, a UNCW student who posted about the incident on Facebook provided a photo that appeared to show the Kirk mural on the spirit rock covered up with blue, pink and white paint.
Below is a breakdown of everything we know about the incident so far:
What the university says
In its statement to Snopes, the university confirmed that the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, a youth organization that Kirk co-founded, hosted a vigil in memory of him on Monday, Sept. 15. Several hundred people, including students and community members, attended what the university called a "safe and respectful demonstration."
Students affiliated with the event also painted one of the campus spirit rocks in honor of Kirk. However, the university clarified in its statement that "the UNCW spirit rock is not a memorial," as some people on social media suggested. Instead, the rock serves as a "platform for freedom of expression" and it is typically painted multiple times per week, university officials said.
Out of courtesy, students are asked, but not required, to leave artwork on the spirit rock for at least 24 hours before repainting it, according to university officials.
The university's policy on displays (archived) reads:
Out of courtesy, RSOs (Registered Student Organizations) and UNCW students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to allow messages to remain on the rocks for 24 hours before painting over them. It is recommended when painting a spirit rock to include at the base of the rock the date and time of the newest message. This enables others to honor the courtesy of waiting at least 24 hours before spraying over previous messages, though the university does not monitor such compliance.
Regarding the incident involving the spirit rock that occurred the morning after the vigil, the university said:
"Let me be clear: if it is determined that state or federal laws were broken, we will cooperate fully with the prosecution of those law breakers as determined by the law enforcement authorities," he wrote.
What students and community members are saying
At least several students involved with the vigil have shared personal accounts of the incident on social media and with news outlets.
Reagan Faulkner, president of UNCW's chapter of College Republicans, told Fox News Digital (archived) that students opposing Kirk began threatening to paint over the mural starting around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16. She said the rock was first vandalized around 11 a.m.
According to Faulkner, members of the opposing group "later dumped paint on our members and the rock."
Snopes reached out to UNCW College Republicans for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Ashlynn Holyfield, another student at UNCW, also shared her account in a Facebook post (archived). She claimed that "people were seen camping out at the rock with transgender flag paint colors in hopes to cover up [Kirk's] mural less than 24 hours after it was painted." Holyfield said that she and other students gathered around the rock to prevent the artwork from being covered.
Holyfield wrote that "a girl," whom Snopes chose not to name since she has not been publicly implicated in any wrongdoing, "showed up, grabbed some of the paint, pushed through many students, and threw the paint on the rock." She added that this "resulted in me and many other students being covered in paint, which got in people's mouths, eyes, hair, and even resulted in one falling to the ground."
Holyfield provided Snopes with a photo that appeared to show the Kirk mural on the spirit rock covered in blue, pink and white paint, as it was shown in photos shared on social media. She also shared a screenshot of a fellow student's Instagram story that appeared to show the words "no empathy" and "f--- Kirk" painted on the rock.
(Ashlynn Holyfield)
The New Hanover County GOP in North Carolina also addressed the incident in a Facebook post (archived), writing: