NPR, September 2025
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Dozens of people have been fired, suspended or put under investigation by their employers since Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week. The reason – their social media posts about the conservative political influencer. In some instances, these firings and investigations have been cheered on by government officials and lawmakers. NPR’s Jude Joffe-Block and Huo Jingnan have been reporting about this and join us now. Hello to both of you.
HUO JINGNAN, BYLINE: Hello.
JUDE JOFFE-BLOCK, BYLINE: Hello.
CHANG: OK, Jingnan, let’s start with you. What do we know so far about who exactly is facing consequences for these online comments about Charlie Kirk since his murder?
HUO: So far, we know that at least 40 people and counting have been affected. We’re talking about teachers, civil servants, nurses, doctors, and that is just what’s just been publicly reported by news outlets.
JOFFE-BLOCK: And this is in part being driven by a campaign we’re seeing online. Kirk’s supporters and high-profile, right-wing influencers, along with some elected officials, have been mobilizing to get people fired for posting in a celebratory way about Kirk’s murder. And there’s actually a couple of websites tracking these. One claims that it’s collected 60,000 submissions. Though, right now, you can’t see the posts and we can’t verify that number or that any of these posts or all of these posts are authentic. Some people who’ve been publicly called out online for their post told us they’ve received threats to their physical safety.
