Over the weekend, dozens — maybe hundreds — of people were fired for celebrating the political assassination of Charlie Kirk and many companies warned employees not to be next. The right applauded these firings, but it’s worth remembering that the same people once condemned “cancel culture” when the left went after vaccine skeptics and gender critics. Is there really a difference here?
Most of the posts that cost people their jobs were grotesque celebrations of Kirk’s murder. It feels proportionate to fire, say, a school police officer who openly cheers political violence. But what about an accountant? A cheerleading coach? A comic book writer?
Honestly, we should all stop to think about this.
The First Amendment draws a clear line: it protects speech, even offensive, hateful, or cruel speech. What it does not protect is actual violence or true threats of violence. Celebrating an assassination is disgusting, but unless someone is urging more killings, it remains protected speech.
Some of these posts were urging more killings though.
And here’s the wrinkle: the First Amendment only protects you from government punishment. It doesn’t stop an employer from firing you because they find your speech offensive, damaging, or simply uncomfortable. A school district, a corporation, or a small business can decide you’re no longer a good representative — even if what you said is legally protected.
But maybe this is less about “cancel culture” and more about a revival of professional norms: a reminder that what you say in public reflects back on your workplace.
Still, the social punishments can be severe. In one case, a woman gloated over Kirk’s death, and the online mob turned on her husband’s business. His company’s website was taken down, reviews tanked, and even other businesses with similar names were collateral damage. Innocent people became casualties of outrage.
As the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression put it:
“Charlie Kirk’s assassination was an attack on free speech and open discourse… But it is precisely for that reason why we must not respond to mockery of Kirk’s assassination by canceling everyone who offends us: because that too creates a society where people are afraid to express themselves.”
And look, I don’t want to see anyone gloat over this horrific death but I also don’t want anarchists lurking in the silence and a destruction of our First Amendment rights.
