American workers – from Delta pilots to MSNBC pundits and public school teachers – are being sacked from their jobs for mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination in social media posts.
Kirk, a prominent 31-year-old conservative podcaster, was fatally shot last Wednesday while speaking at a university in Utah during his tour with Turning Point USA, the organization he co-founded.
Immediately after the shooting, graphic video footage of Kirk’s death spread online – along with cruel jokes about the right-wing influencer.
Airlines
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a social media post that American Airlines pilots “who were caught celebrating” the assassination were “immediately grounded and removed from service.”
He called for the pilots to be fired, adding that “glorifying political violence is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!”
American Airlines said it had “initiated action to address this,” adding that “hate-related or hostile behavior runs contrary to our purpose, which is to care for people on life’s journey.”
Delta Air Lines suspended an unknown number of employees after they shared social media posts that “went well beyond healthy, respectful debate.” The company said violations of its social media policy can lead to termination.
Schools
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee called for a Middle Tennessee State University employee to be fired after she wrote: “Looks like ol’ Charlie spoke his fate into existence. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.”
The university told CNN the employee was fired “effective immediately.”
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also called for the firing of a public school teacher. The district later told local news that the teacher was no longer employed with the district.
Idaho’s West Ada School District said it fired an employee who allegedly posted an inappropriate video online. It said it was “shocked and saddened” by the post’s contents.
The school district said it “remains committed to nurturing and supporting our students and families, and to addressing harmful actions thoughtfully, with care, and with a focus on doing what is right.”
A middle school science teacher in Oregon was placed on leave for posting on Facebook that Kirk’s death “brightened up” his day, according to NBC affiliate KGW. The teacher resigned.
Clemson University in South Carolina suspended an employee pending further investigation after they made social media posts about Kirk’s death. They did not share the contents of the post.
Health care
The University of Miami’s health care system said it fired an employee over “unacceptable public commentary.”
“Freedom of speech is a fundamental right,” the company said in a statement. “At the same time, expressions that condone or endorse violence or are incompatible with our policies or values are not acceptable.”
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta also fired a worker for making “inappropriate comments” about Kirk’s killing.
“This type of rhetoric is not acceptable for Children’s employees and violates our social media policy,” a spokesperson for the health care center said in a statement.
MSNBC
MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd was axed from the network after he seemed to imply just moments after the shooting on-air that Kirk’s “awful words” led “awful actions to take place.”
Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president, called his remarks “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable.”
In a Substack article on Friday, Dowd argued that his words “were being misconstrued.”
“The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” he wrote.
Office Depot
An Office Depot employee at a Michigan store was fired after allegedly refusing to print flyers about Charlie Kirk for a customer.
Office Depot called the incident “completely unacceptable and insensitive,” adding that it violates company policy and the company is committed to reinforcing training.
Microsoft
In a post on Friday, Microsoft said it is reviewing negative remarks about Kirk made by some of its employees.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had blasted Microsoft boss Satya Nadella on X, nodding to a claim that some employees at Blizzard – a video game company owned by Microsoft – had posted comments “trashing” Kirk.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq said Friday it fired an employee for remarks about Kirk that violated company policy around “commentary that condones or celebrates violence.”
Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie, a law firm targeted by President Trump over its work with clients like George Soros, fired a lawyer for making social media posts about Kirk, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers fired a public relations staffer over his remarks about Kirk, a source told the Athletic.
“The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers,” the football team said Thursday.
DC Comics
DC Comics canceled its newly-released “Red Hood” comic book series after its author, Gretch Felker-Martin, jabbed at Kirk’s death online, writing in since-deleted comments: “Hope the bullet’s OK.”
Freddy’s
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a Wichita, Kansas-based dining chain, condemned remarks from one of its employees, who allegedly asked for donations to the Satanic Temple and wrote after Kirk’s death: “Another one bites the dust,” according to screenshots of social media posts.
“The opinions expressed by this individual in no way represent Freddy’s views. We do not condone any act of violence. This person is no longer employed by the company,” Freddy’s said in a statement.
Coordinated campaign
It appears there is a coordinated effort behind the widespread firings, with a doxxing site called “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” that gathered information about people who made posts about Kirk, according to a CNN report.
The site – whose domain was registered anonymously – said it had received nearly 30,000 submissions as of Saturday. The site was unavailable as of Monday.
“This is a permanent and continuously-updating archive of Radical activists calling for violence,” a message on the site said Saturday.
Rachel Gilmore, a Canadian independent journalist, wrote in a post that she is “terrified” about retaliation from Kirk’s “far-right fans” after the shooting. At one point, that post made it to the top of the Charlie’s Murderers site, according to CNN.
Gilmore said in a video online that she had never celebrated Kirk’s death – but that she had received a “tsunami” of threats after she was mentioned on the doxxing site, making the last 48 hours of her life “a living hell.”