A teenage girl claims a Build-A-Bear staffer refused to print Charlie Kirk’s name on the certificate of her teddy bear.
Evi McCormick, a 16-year-old from Tukwila, Washington, visited a Build-A-Bear workshop in Seattle to create a bear in honor of Kirk, who she admires greatly.
The Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder was assassinated on September 10 while speaking to students at Utah Valley University.
After a two-day manhunt, authorities arrested a man named Tyler Robinson, 22, with capital murder in connection with Kirk’s death.
Evi shared that after building her bear, she was prompted to create a certificate and filled out the name as ‘Charlie Kirk’.
When she went to check out, she says an employee at the store told her: ‘We’re not doing this,’ Evi revealed to local NBC affiliate, KING5.
‘She just didn’t agree with it. She didn’t support it,’ Evi told the outlet.
According to Evi, an employee destroyed the birth certificate and discarded it, prompting her to leave the store and give her credit card to her friend to purchase the bear.
A Washington teen shared a photo of the teddy she made at Build-A-Bear in honor of her ‘role model’ Charlie Kirk
Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, Kirk, was assassinated on September 10
Kailie Lang, a friend of Evi’s, told KING5 that the encounter made the whole group uncomfortable.
‘It wasn’t political until she made it that way,’ Evi added.
Evi said that she was ‘mesmerized’ by Kirk and admitted that he ‘captivated’ her when he spoke.
Evi McCormick said she was ‘appalled’ by the employee’s behavior
In a Facebook post about the experience, Evi said that she was ‘appalled’ by the employee’s behavior and called her dad sobbing outside the store.
Evi’s friend then asked for a blank sheet of paper so she could write the name in later, but said the employee refused.
‘Safe to say, I will not be returning, and my heart genuinely hurts,’ Evi wrote.
She then shared a video of the bear, dressed in a suit and red tie, accompanied by audio of Kirk speaking.
‘Charlie Kirk is an idol to me, and to feel the hate, even onto his supporters, is so unfortunate,’ Evi wrote.
Evi’s mom, Amber, told KING5 that she called Build-A-Bear’s corporate office and was offered a $20 gift card for the experience.
She added that she received another call from a company representative a few days later, who apologized for the incident.
Evi told local news that the store’s staff refused to let her name the bear after Kirk, allegedly saying: ‘We’re not doing this.’
‘She said that their goal is to try to prevent this sort of situation from happening to anybody else,’ Amber added.
Daily Mail reached out to Build-A-Bear for comment on Evi’s story.
Kirk’s assassination resulted in numerous terminations nationwide due to people’s reactions to the conservative activist’s death, including the suspension of a Kansas professor for comments made online.
