The assassination of fascist leader Charlie Kirk has led to an outpouring of comments on social media about the contradictory feelings around his death. While some have celebrated the life of Kirk, others have pointed out that Kirk routinely defended police brutality, hate crimes, COVID denialism, and wars overseas.
Yesterday, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel was suspended for a series of comments he made regarding Kirk's assassination.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said in comments that the Trump Administration and others widely criticized.
Kimmel's suspension comes as ABC faces public pressure and the threat of sanctions from Trump's Federal Communications Commission over the comments. The move was widely denounced by a coalition of unions representing film and TV workers.
"The indefinite removal of Jimmy Kimmel Live! under government pressure is not an isolated incident," said the unions in a statement. "It is part of a disturbing trend of increasing interference in creative expression. This kind of political pressure on broadcasters and artists chills free speech and threatens the livelihoods of thousands of working Americans."
Kimmel's suspension highlights a troubling trend of educators and other public servants across the country being targeted for their statements regarding the death of Kirk.
In Texas alone, more than 180 educators and school support staff have been suspended for comments they made about Kirk's assassination on social media. There, Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner Mike Morath has ordered school districts to investigate their staff and find out which ones had posted about Kirk's death.
"That is frankly unprecedented. I've been in education for almost 30 years now. I've never seen a commissioner send a letter like that saying that they're starting investigations en masse of the entire education community," Texas American Federation of Texas (AFT) President Zeph Capo told KDFW.
In Florida, the state's education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas encouraged educators to come forward about comments made by fellow educators about Kirk's death, not on social media, but in private by other educators.
"What we're seeing right now is certainly what feels to me to be McCarthy-like," Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar told WBPF. "Where people are being encouraged by the commissioner and by others to essentially hunt for, teachers or staff or professors who are saying something that someone has a problem with, however small it may be, and to essentially expose that, to dox teachers, to threaten teachers and staff and professors."
Now, Trump and his allies, including South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, are pushing for federal action that would require education officials to investigate any individuals who made comments about Kirk's death or risk losing federal funding.
"Charlie Kirk spent his life defending free speech and standing for faith, family, and freedom, while inspiring young Americans to stand up for their beliefs," said Congresswoman Mace in a statement released by her office earlier this week. "Educators who celebrate his assassination are not just unfit, they're dangerous, and they will not collect paychecks on the backs of American taxpayers."
The nation's teachers unions are vowing to fight back.
"Of course, no one should celebrate another person's murder," said American Federation of Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten in a statement sent to Payday Report. "But using this tragedy to encourage the doxxing, censorship, and firing of people for their opinions—including educators' private opinions shared during their personal time—is wrong."
Even in southern states like Texas, where educators lack collective bargaining rights, unions are vowing to fight back and organize against these witch hunts.
"Here's the thing about authoritarian regimes: They'll take as much as the rest of us are willing to give them," says AFT Texas President Zeph Capo. "It's no surprise that, here in Texas, the purge of civil servants starts with teachers. If you value your freedom, now is the time to speak up and defend the rights of all Texans to exercise their constitutional right to have an opinion on matters of civil discourse."
