Teachers across the United States are receiving public and professional backlash for their comments around the death of political commentator Charlie Kirk.
Firings have occurred in both universities and public school districts. Four districts in Massachusetts have launched internal investigations around teachers’ online reactions to Kirk being shot at a political rally in Utah Sept. 10.
X account Libs of TikTok posted Sept. 10 showing an Instagram story from a Wachusett teacher’s personal account that said, “Just a reminder, we’re NOT offering sympathy.” Holden police officers were present at Wachusetts Regional High School Sept. 11, and Superintendent James Reilly confirmed the teacher was placed on leave.
“Please know that Wachusett Regional School District condemns violence in all forms. Political violence, especially, has no place in our country, and it directly contradicts our nation’s founding principles,” Reilly said in a statement. The school placed a second staff member on leave Sept. 12, but more details were not given.
Libs of TikTok also posted a video that allegedly shows a Framingham teacher singing “God Bless America” over a news report of Kirk’s death. Superintendent Robert Tremblay confirmed a teacher had been placed on leave, but the teacher was not named.
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School placed two teachers on leave following alleged social media posts; one of them chose to resign, while the other is still under investigation. Sharon Public Schools also began an investigation into a staff member.
“Today we were made aware of and were extremely concerned about a recent personal social media post by a member of our staff that has been shared publicly in other social media posts,” Sharon Public Schools Superintendent Peter J. Botelho and Sharon High School Principal Kristen M. Keenan wrote in a letter to the community Sept. 11. “We recognize that this post has caused distress for members of our school community. The post in question is inconsistent with those values, and we are reviewing and addressing the matter in accordance with established district policies and procedures.”
The suspensions have caused a debate on both sides of the political spectrum around First Amendment rights. After Kirk’s death, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested during a podcast interview that the country should crack down on “hate speech.” After backlash, she clarified in an X post that First Amendment rights do not apply to threats of violence.
According to what First Amendment specialists told the Boston Globe, “Although public-school teachers and staff have constitutional rights as private citizens to speak on public matters, such protection can be limited if the speech could damage or disrupt the workplace. In such cases, school officials and the courts must balance whether the potential damage outweighs the speech’s value.”
David Buckley, president of UMass Boston’s chapter of Turning Point USA, stated that the teachers’ comments erred more on the side of hate speech. “When it comes down to stuff like that, targeting groups of people, that is never a good thing,” he said in an interview with The Mass Media. “When you see that happening from teachers … You can only wonder what’s happening in that teacher’s classroom.”
Buckley said that the university should remain open to all political opinions and communicate to students that it is a welcoming campus to people of all viewpoints. First Amendment specialists and activist groups alike all agreed that the freedom to express differing opinions should be upheld, while incitement of violence should not.
“It is essential, especially in times of crisis, to preserve and uphold our nation’s core values of free expression and open debate,” Carol Rose, executive director of the state ACLU, told the Boston Globe. “We can and should condemn acts of violence while preserving the ability of all people to voice disagreements on matters of public concern—including sometimes harsh criticism of public figures.”
