Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Dozens of US workers ranging from teachers to Secret Service agents have been fired over statements about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, as conservatives call for retribution for the activist’s death.
In the aftermath of Kirk’s murder, some conservative US officials and activists encouraged people to report those who celebrated the killing on social media.
“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out,” said vice-president JD Vance while hosting Kirk’s podcast on Monday. “And hell, call their employer.”
United Airlines said it had “taken action on employees” who attempted to justify the killing. Nasdaq said it had “terminated, effective immediately” an employee over “commentary that condones or celebrates violence”. It was unclear whether the reports from the public factored into the firings.
Political activist Olivia Krolczyk also called for the punishment of people who appeared to be celebrating Kirk’s death. Even before Vance’s comments on Monday she posted on X that she had contacted more than 700 employers regarding their workers’ social media posts.
The Carolina Panthers football team, The Washington Post, law firm Perkins Coie and American Airlines have also dismissed staff for their public comments about Kirk.
The offending posts have ranged from a United Airlines pilot calling Kirk a “fucking Nazi” to a South Carolina high school teacher writing on Facebook that “America became greater” after the assassination, and a Secret Service agent attributing the murder to “karma”.
Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was an outspoken conservative known for co-founding the rightwing youth organisation Turning Point USA. His comments about immigrants, transgender people and women drew a fierce backlash.
The 31-year-old Kirk was addressing a crowd of more than 3,000 at Utah Valley University last week when he was fatally shot in the neck. Authorities on Tuesday charged 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder in connection with the killing.
Companies have cracked down on employees’ political expression both in and out of the office amid the US’s deepening political divide. Some also dismissed workers for comments seen as inflammatory after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel and the 2024 assassination attempt on Trump.
The Pentagon last Thursday urged caution in posting online about Kirk’s death.
Chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that it was “unacceptable” for troops and other defence department personnel “to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American” and that there would be “zero tolerance for it”.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth reposted Parnell’s statement and said that his department was “tracking all these very closely”.
On college campuses, Clemson University and Middle Tennessee State University said they had fired staff for comments made following the assassination. The non-profit Joe Burrow Foundation, which helps underprivileged children, and biomedical research centre the Broad Institute severed ties with employees as well.
The media sector was rife with examples of workers being terminated over Kirk-related comments.
Among the first reported fired was MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd, who said on air that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which ultimately lead to hateful actions” after initial reports that shots had been fired at an event where Kirk was speaking.
“The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” Dowd wrote in a Substack post about the incident last week.
Karen Attiah said she was fired from her role as an opinion writer for The Washington Post last week after posting what she said was a statement from Kirk saying that “Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously” after his death.
Kirk had in fact referred to specific Black women including Michelle Obama and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“They rushed to fire me without even a conversation — claiming disparagement on race,” Attiah wrote in a Substack post announcing her firing. “This was not only a hasty over-reach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigour the Post claims to uphold.”
MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler apologised for Dowd’s comments in a statement, calling them “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable”. A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters.
Additional reporting by Steff Chávez in Washington
This article has been amended to provide more context on Charlie Kirk’s comments on Black women
#workers #fired #Charlie #Kirk #social #media #posts
