Within 24 hours of Charlie Kirk’s killing, several individuals lost their jobs after posting about the incident online.
Among those fired were an assistant dean at a Tennessee college, a communications staff member for an NFL team, a Next Door employee in Milwaukee, and the co-owner of a barbecue restaurant in Cincinnati. Each had shared language or memes about the 31-year-old conservative firebrand that their employers deemed offensive or insensitive.
“Looks like ol’ Charlie spoke his fate into existence,” Laura Sosh-Lightsy, assistant dean of students at Middle Tennessee State University, posted on Facebook. “Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.”
Before the day ended, MTSU president Sidney McPhee released a statement confirming that Sosh-Lightsy had been fired due to her “inappropriate and callous” comments, which were deemed inconsistent with the university’s values.
Andrew Herrmann, a communications professor at ETSU, also commented on a Facebook post offering sympathy to Kirk’s family, saying Kirk “reaped what he sowed.”
At least twelve employers, including the Carolina Panthers, the University of Mississippi, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have either suspended or fired staff over their online posts, while also issuing apologies and publicly distancing themselves from the comments.
For Dawn Solowey, a labour lawyer at Seyfarth Shaw in Boston, the killing of Kirk touches on some of the most profound divisions in American society, highlighting tensions related to “race, gender, sex, and sexual orientation.”
She said she has been approached by several clients seeking advice on managing social media posts from employees that appeared to support violence.
“When employees are asked to bring their whole self to work, they bring their whole self to work, including their strong opinions,” Solowey said.
Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday, local time. The video of the killing was quickly and widely circulated online.
Kirk established the conservative organisation Turning Point USA at the age of 18 and grew it into a youth-focused political movement. He was known for engaging in public debates, especially on college campuses.
Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, described Kirk as “a freakishly polarising” activist, making it unsurprising that some people immediately expressed their reactions online, especially in an era when many quickly turn to social media “impulsively, right when the action happens, almost like a fear of missing out.”
North said employees’ social media posts have become a growing concern for employers because “companies realise the ramifications of an unpopular or offensive view from an employee can have a devastating impact on the company’s reputation, stock or sales.”
It also “almost guarantees some level of hostility in the workplace the next day”, she added.
“People’s comments are perceived as representing the company that they work for,” North said.
“You have the right to free speech in the town square, not in a private business.”
Jason Solomon, director of the National Institute for Workers’ Rights, said state employees have First Amendment protections against dismissal or discipline for political speech, although these protections have certain limits.
He said only a small number of states provide protections strong enough for employees to legally challenge their dismissals over comments that trivialise Kirk’s death.
For those posting online, the consequences could go beyond employer discipline. According to the Washington Post, as the Trump administration considers its response to Kirk’s killing, some senior officials have proposed a broader campaign targeting schoolteachers and college instructors who have publicly criticised Kirk since his death.
“Is an employee or student of yours supporting political violence online? Look them up on this website,” reads the landing page of a viral website that is soliciting examples of those celebrating Kirk’s killing and says it has garnered nearly 20,000 submissions.
“This is the largest firing operation in history,” the Washington Post said.
Some are standing up to protect workers’ rights to free expression.
“Teachers don’t surrender their First Amendment rights when they take the job,” Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, a parent advocacy group, said.
Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau cautioned that the government might take action against foreigners based on their reactions to Kirk’s killing and requested examples in a post on X.
“I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalising or making light of the event and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action,” Landau said.
He did not clarify what the action would be.