Conservative activists are collecting and publicizing social media posts and profiles that they say “celebrated” his death and are calling for them to lose their jobs.
Kirk’s death was made public later that day, and Dowd’s firing was made public that evening.
The site corrals social media posts and the names, locations and employment of people deemed to have been “celebrating Charlie’s death.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau indicated his office might revoke the U.S. visas of foreign nationals over their social media remarks about Kirk’s murder.
“I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action,” Landau posted.
According to an NPR analysis, social media posts that expressed schadenfreude or criticism of Charlie Kirk following the conservative influencer’s assassination earlier this week have resulted in over thirty people nationwide being fired, placed on leave, under investigation, or being called to resign.
Additionally, some GOP officials and lawmakers are indicating that they are prepared to punish people for their speech, so there may be more to come. Conservative activists are urging them to be fired for gathering and promoting social media profiles and posts that they claim “celebrated” his passing.
Right-wing influencer Joey Mannarino wrote, “Download the picture and reverse image search it if they have their picture on their profile, even without a name.”. Compare it to their LinkedIn profile to determine where they work. Give the workplace a call and post reviews on Google. “.”.
Several Republican elected officials shared screenshots of offensive posts and called for action, as did right-wing influencers with sizable fan bases, such as Laura Loomer and Libs of TikTok, the account owned by activist Chaya Raichik.
As of Friday, NPR has compiled a list of 33 individuals who have been fired or are being investigated for their positions based on news reports. In school districts across the nation, at least 21 educators were placed under investigation by their employers, placed on administrative leave, or fired. The majority were public school teachers. Similar treatment or resignation requests have been made of firefighters, military personnel, a sports reporter, a Carolina Panthers employee, and an Indiana city council official.
Matthew Dowd, an MSNBC analyst and former Republican political consultant to President George W. Bush, was one of the first and most well-known people fired. Bush. When the shooting at a Kirk event started to make headlines, Dowd made remarks on live television that quickly sparked a conservative backlash.
During his MSNBC appearance, Dowd first stated that no specifics were known at the time before speculating as to whether the gun was fired in “celebration” by a supporter. Kirk was “always sort of pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups,” Dowd continued. And I keep returning to the idea that hateful words breed hateful thoughts, which breed hateful actions. “.
“You can’t stop,” he added, “having these terrible thoughts and then saying these terrible things and expect terrible things to happen. And that’s the unlucky situation we’re in. Kirk was shot, the host confirmed after Dowd’s remark.
Kirk used some inflammatory language. He questioned the intelligence of Black people and women, claimed that the Second Amendment was necessary because of some gun deaths, claimed that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was flawed, and portrayed immigrants and transgender people as threats.
Later that day, Kirk’s death was made public, and that evening, Dowd’s termination was made public.
Dowd wrote, “The Right Wing media mob got a hold of me, attacked me across a number of platforms, and MSNBC responded to that mob.”.
Those who “want to go down that path of debating the things that he stood for are essentially being silenced,” according to David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who specializes in international human rights, the internet, and free speech, as a result of the social media flurry surrounding comments about Kirk’s passing.
Political violence has no place in a democracy, and those who celebrate it are wrong, Kaye stated first and foremost.
But he also stated, “I don’t think we can suppress people who are debating the legacy of someone who was killed in a democracy. “..”.
Did anyone say anything?
Although online disputes over social media posts have surfaced in relation to other public figure murders or attempted murders in recent years, the current campaign seems more intense, partly because of an anonymous website called Expose Charlie’s Murderers. Social media posts and the names, addresses, and jobs of those thought to have been “celebrating Charlie’s death” are gathered by the website. When NPR asked the site’s creators for comment, they didn’t reply.
Organizers say the site, which had more than 40 users as of Friday morning, “is being converted into a mass searchable database of over 20,000 entries.”. According to WIRED, some of the individuals highlighted on the homepage have been threatened with death.
On Thursday night, Loomer posted on X, “I’m so sorry, President Trump, but the unemployment numbers in the jobs report next month are going to be very high.”.
U. S. . Sen. Blackburn, Marsha, R-Tenn. called for several individuals in her state to be fired immediately. “This individual ought to feel embarrassed by her post. In an X post concerning an assistant dean at Middle Tennessee State University, Blackburn stated, “She ought to be relieved of her duties.”.
Blackburn shared screenshots of the assistant dean’s Facebook post, which read: “It appears that old Charlie spoke his fate into existence.”. Hatred breeds more hate. There is absolutely no sympathy. USA Today reports the assistant dean was dismissed.
The tone and content of the comments that prompted investigations seemed to vary greatly.
“Charlie Kirk died the same way he lived: bringing out the worst in people,” a local ABC affiliate reported about an Oklahoma teacher who is being investigated.
Republican state representative shared screenshots of a Texas teacher’s Facebook posts that were critical of Kirk’s beliefs, including “Could this have been the consequences of his actions catching up with him?” and “karma is a b*tch.”. Cain, Briscoe. Houston Public Media reports that although Cain demanded that the teacher be fired, their current employment status is unknown.
“Good riddance to bad garbage,” among other things, was written by another teacher in Naples, New York, who compared Kirk to a Nazi, according to screenshots shared by Libs of TikTok.
In a Facebook post, Naples Central School District superintendent Kevin Swartz stated, “We have received feedback from numerous community members about their concerns and outrage regarding these posts.”. All of your opinions have been heard, and I want to be very clear about that. “.”.
Anastasios Kamoutsas, the commissioner of education for Florida, condemned educators who made “despicable comments” regarding Kirk’s murder and promised to look into them.
According to a now-deleted Instagram comment purportedly from a firefighter in New Orleans, “I believe he ought to be made to carry that bullet in his body. As a gift from God, that bullet has a right to be there, according to screenshots that TikTok user Libs posted.
Then, urging “consequences” and tagging the New Orleans Fire Department, the state’s attorney general reposted the Libs of TikTok post.
A local NBC affiliate said the department has opened an investigation.
Several people who had been named in news reports as losing their jobs because of their social media posts were contacted by NPR, but they refused to comment on the record, citing concerns about their safety and death threats they had got.
Powerful Republicans lean in.
State and federal lawmakers and officials also promised to use their power to punish anyone who seemed to celebrate Kirk’s passing.
Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, said his office might cancel the U.S. S. visas of foreigners due to their comments regarding Kirk’s murder on social media. “I have instructed our consular officials to take the necessary action and have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event,” Landau wrote. “Please don’t hesitate to alert me to such remarks made by foreigners. “.
“I have seen posts that show disdain for a fellow American who was killed,” Navy Secretary John Phelan cautioned. “Any civilian or uniformed employee of the Department of the Navy who behaves in a way that discredits the Department, the @USNavy, or the @USMC will face swift and severe consequences.”. “.”.
U. S. . Rep. Higgins, Clay, R-La. posted on X stating that he intended to “use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination,” which is a significant shift from the Republican Party’s position in recent years, which has equated censorship with content moderation.
He wrote, “I’m also going after their business licenses and permits, their businesses will be blacklisted aggressively, they should be expelled from all schools, and their driver’s licenses should be revoked.”.
Smith College professor and community activist Loretta Ross, who studies authoritarian movements, told NPR that Kirk’s murder was a tragedy that is currently being used to stifle free expression.
In order to avoid an overreaction, she brought up the McCarthy era, in which “people were punished, fired, blacklisted for having opinions that the government didn’t like.”.
The fact that someone’s death only serves to further an agenda that further divides us is incredibly sad and tragic. “,”.
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Reporting was provided by Shannon Bond of NPR.
