Charlie Kirk was murdered last Wednesday, and in the hours that followed, a chilling trend took hold: if you weren’t sufficiently grieving his death — or worse, if you criticized him — you became a target.
Now, a growing list of Americans are losing their jobs over social media posts that either made light of Kirk’s death or simply failed to express sympathy. From fast food workers and teachers to journalists, airline employees, and even a comic book writer, people are being doxxed, reported, harassed — and fired. And it’s all happening as part of what looks like a coordinated effort led by far-right activists, Republican politicians, and anonymous online operatives.
The fallout is being tracked — and in some cases driven — by a new site called “Expose Charlie’s Murderers.” Its goal is not subtle. The homepage flatly states:
“This website will soon be converted into a searchable database of all 30,000 submissions, filterable by general location and job industry. This is a permanent and continuously-updating archive of Radical activists calling for violence.”
Despite the site’s claim that it’s not promoting doxxing, it has already posted names, job information, and screenshots of dozens of people who made posts about Kirk’s death — many of whom did not call for violence or identify as activists.
One of the most aggressive voices pushing this campaign is far-right provocateur Laura Loomer, who posted hours after the assassination:
“I will be spending my night making everyone I find online who celebrates his death Famous, so prepare to have your whole future professional aspirations ruined if you are sick enough to celebrate his death.”
And she wasn’t bluffing. The online right — including Loomer’s followers and aligned influencers — have been hunting down even minor accounts, reporting them to employers, and compiling the “wins” in what one viral X thread calls a “Trophy Case.” It’s a live mega-thread of people allegedly fired, complete with names, screenshots, and smug commentary.
Republican elected officials have jumped on the bandwagon. Sen. Marsha Blackburn publicly called for the firing of a Middle Tennessee State University employee who posted they had “ZERO sympathy” for Kirk. The university confirmed the employee was terminated “effective immediately.”
“No university employee who celebrates the assassination of Charlie Kirk should be trusted to shape the minds of the next generation in the classroom,” Blackburn said.
Rep. Nancy Mace also demanded that a public school teacher be fired — and the district complied.
It’s not just public employees being purged. American Airlines, Delta, and United Airlines have all suspended workers for making posts related to Kirk’s death. Delta CEO Ed Bastian confirmed the suspensions in a memo, writing:
“These social posts stand in stark contrast to our values and our social media policy.”
DC Comics took it a step further. The company abruptly canceled the Red Hood comic book series after author Gretchen Felker-Martin posted:
“Hope the bullet’s OK.”
DC released a statement distancing itself from “public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence.”
Meanwhile, MSNBC fired senior political analyst Matthew Dowd — not for celebrating Kirk’s murder, but for questioning whether Kirk’s own inflammatory rhetoric might have played a role in the violence.
Donald Trump weighed in on Fox News, bragging about his firing: “They fired this guy, Dowd from (MSNBC), who’s a terrible guy, terrible human being, but they fired him. I hear they’re firing other people.”
Fear, Harassment, and the Return of the Watchlist
The online backlash has sent a wave of harassment toward people caught in the crosshairs. Journalist Rachel Gilmore said she’s now “terrified” after being named on the anonymous site — despite the fact that she expressed hope Kirk would survive in one of her posts.
“A tsunami of threats,” she said. “A living hell.”
Rebekah Jones, a former Florida data scientist, said she’s contacted police about threats stemming from the site, which she refers to as a “hit list.” Her post — “Save your sympathies for the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of MAGA’s violent political messaging machine” — was also republished on the site, along with personal info.
“This is absolutely a coordinated harassment campaign,” said Laura Edelson, a cybersecurity professor at Northeastern University.
“That’s absolutely why it exists — to coordinate and target harassment toward the selected individuals.”
The structure of the site — complete with a database and industry/job filters — echoes Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist,” a project started by Kirk himself that led to years of online abuse directed at left-leaning professors.
Hank Teran, CEO of an open-source threat intelligence platform, said the site’s framing — even just its name — wrongly implies that those featured are complicit in Kirk’s death:
“It could be reasonable to conclude that there’s some intent to incite harassment.”
The Legal Gray Area
From a legal standpoint, most of these firings are perfectly allowable — especially in the private sector.
“In most places, private companies can fire employees for any reason — and that includes crass social media posts,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, a labor law professor at the University of North Carolina.
For public sector workers, the law offers more protection — but not much, especially when there’s a political mob demanding action.
Hirsch added: “The reality of the situation is, if they’re getting flooded, even if it’s from one political wing, with complaints, it’s likely to push an employer to fire somebody.”
A 1987 Supreme Court case ruled that it was protected speech for a government employee to say she was sorry that a would-be assassin failed to kill Ronald Reagan. That bar has clearly shifted — or at least been ignored.
A Culture War Weaponized
Critics say what’s happening now isn’t just about Kirk — it’s about punishing dissent and making examples out of people who don’t toe the line.
“Attempts to call out people designated as being celebratory of Kirk’s death, or merely critical of Kirk’s life, work to give shape and weight to that enemy,” said Whitney Phillips, a professor at the University of Oregon.
“Disconnected groups can be perceived as a downright spiritual enemy of conservatives, and by extension, of America itself.”
As a result, even vague criticism of Kirk, or posts pointing out the hypocrisy in right-wing reactions to gun violence, are being treated like criminal offenses. The MAGA movement isn’t just mourning Kirk — it’s turning his death into a new front in the culture war, and making sure anyone who doesn’t fall in line pays a price.
In the span of a few days, mourning has become mandatory. And silence — or anything short of praise — is being treated like treason.
