The unveiling of a statue commemorating Charlie Kirk in Times Square on the anniversary of his assassination descended into chaos as groups clashed over the tribute.

Footage taken by Daily Mail cameras at the event showed hostile scenes unfolded at the New York City landmark on Thursday. 

The statue, standing at 6-foot-5 and costing $100,000, was built by sculptor Sergio Furnari, who said he hoped to spark healthy debate in the memory of the conservative activist. 

But Furnari’s hopes were not met at the grand opening of his statue, as crowds flew into a frenzy and footage showed men draped in American flags arguing with protesters. 

Despite a number of police officers at the scene, footage showed several people pushing and shoving each other to the ground, yelling ‘F*** you’ and throwing objects across the area. 

Protesters against the statue were seen yelling ‘rest in p***’ at the Kirk statue and putting their middle fingers up at Furnari as he unveiled the sculpture.  

A group of young men were seen standing in front of the statue with their hands raised to the air as the event became aggressive, as another man in an American flag vest ordered others to ‘calm down.’

One man was seen holding a large USA flag and yelling about ‘Islamists’, while other protesters squared off against him.

The unveiling of a statue commemorating Charlie Kirk in Times Square on the anniversary of his assassination descended into chaos as groups clashed over the tribute

A group of young men were seen standing in front of the statue with their hands raised to the air as the event became aggressive, 

Footage taken by Daily Mail cameras on the scene showed hostile scenes unfolded at the New York City landmark on Thursday

The statue, standing at 6-foot-5 and costing $100,000, was built by sculptor Sergio Furnari (left)

Traffic through Midtown Manhattan was halted by police during the unveiling, as the heavily-populated area was filled with throngs of onlookers.

Furnari told Fox News that he began work on the Kirk sculpture soon after the conservative activist’s assassination, because he was ‘saddened’ by the responses some had to the tragedy.

‘I [saw] how Erika [Kirk] got treated, including the parents of Charlie, and that’s what I think became my catalyzer,’ he said.

‘If you’re a parent, no matter if you were Democrat or Republican, you should have a little bit of empathy.’ 

Furnari added that he was not even an especially big fan of Kirk’s when he was alive, but he wanted to ‘stand together’ with people grieving the murder.

‘It’s not like I agree with him. There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t agree with,’ Furnari said.

‘But still, freedom of expression and, in my case, freedom of creation — there are no boundaries, no borders. That’s where we kind of stand together.’ 

Sculptor Sergio Furnari said  he began work on the Kirk sculpture soon after the conservative activist’s assassination, because he was ‘saddened’ by the responses some had to the tragedy

Furnari said the sculpture cost him ‘probably more than $100,000’ when added to the hours he spent making it, and he launched an online fundraiser to recoup the cost of the project. 

He vowed that anyone who donates to his fundraiser will have their name engraved on the statue’s platform. 

Furnari said he after he funded the sculpture with his own savings, he became more determined to unveil it to the public due to the discourse surrounding Kirk’s death.

‘I became more passionate about it — just because of the way everybody was making fun of him,’ he said.

‘I feel like they killed him once, and they kill him each time, over and over again.’