Right-wing internet users have launched a widespread doxxing campaign against people publicly celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The shooting of the 31-year-old conservative activist on Wednesday sparked a flood of disturbing reactions online.
People from all walks of life — from school teachers, students and university professors to lawyers, journalists, real estate agents, firefighters and military personnel — have shared comments celebrating or justifying the shooting.
In response, prominent conservative influencers including, Libs of TikTok, aka Chaya Raichik, and Laura Loomer, have begun documenting the posts and contacting employers, leading to a flood of firings.
“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,” Loomer wrote on X shortly after Kirk’s death.
“I’m going to make you wish you never opened your mouth.”
A hastily established website to collect examples, which news.com.au has chosen not to name, claims it has received “thousands of submissions” and “all of them will be reviewed and uploaded shortly”.
“This is not a doxxing website,” the anonymously run website states.
“This website is a lawful data aggregator of publicly available information. It has been created for the purposes of public education.
“We seek to collect and archive instances of individuals promoting or glorifying of political violence, much like archive.org or archive.is. We firmly denounce all political violence and criminal activity.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Charlie Kirk’s family.”
At the time of writing, more than two dozen social media users were displayed on the site, in some cases with personal information, including their location, employer and address, listed alongside screenshots of their posts.
One of the first users listed is Rachel Gilmore, an independent journalist based in Canada, who wrote on X that she was “terrified to think of how far-right fans of Kirk, aching for more violence, could very well turn this into an even more radicalising moment”.
Gilmore told Wired she had received multiple death and rape threats since the site went live on Wednesday evening.
“This website has me genuinely afraid for my safety,” she said. “I feel awful for anyone whose name is on it. It’s clear that the purpose of the website is to do exactly what the post that landed me one there warned Kirk’s supporters might do: retaliate.”
Other posts featured on the site include comments such as “we need to find people with better aim”, “white supremacist down!” and “he got what he deserved”.
Quinn Huddleston, who commented on Instagram “is the gun OK?”, told Wired he had received “countless messages” since being listed on the site.
“I did not glorify anyone’s death,” he told the publication.
“I don’t believe political violence is the answer to anything on either side. They took a comment I made prior to [Kirk] even passing and now, as radicals usually do, spin it to work for their agenda, whatever that may be.”
Ashley Creekbaum, an employee with the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD), wrote in one comment on Instagram shown on the site, “I think he should be forced to carry that bullet in his body.”
In a statement on Thursday, the NOFD said it had been “made aware of an insensitive comment made by one of our employees” and had “initiated an administrative review”
“This conduct is unacceptable, and it does not reflect the values, standards, or mission of our Department,” it said.
Similar statements have been issued by various employers at a breakneck pace.
Social worker Devon Cassidy, an employee at Legal Aid B.C. in Canada, was apparently fired after sharing a “deeply offensive” video to Instagram.
“Charlie Kirk got shot and he’s dead. Hahahaha,” she says in the short clip.
“Finally, finally, someone with a gun, which is almost everybody in the f**king States, grew a pair and f**king went and shot somebody on the right side. Thank you, can we keep this up please?”
Legal Aid B.C. denounced the video in a statement on Thursday.
“We are aware of a recently circulated online video featuring a former employee,” it said. “The video contains statements and views that are deeply offensive and do not align with the core values, principles, or mission of our organisation.”
Meanwhile, DC Comics cancelled its Red Hood comic book series after writer Gretchen Felker-Martin joked about Kirk’s death in a series of posts on BlueSky.
“Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk,” read one post. “Thoughts and prayers you Nazi bitch,” another said.
“At DC Comics, we place the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints,“ a DC Comics spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.”
Right-wing influencers have also drawn attention to numerous posts by serving members of the military.
“It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on X. “The Department of War has zero tolerance for it.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth added, “We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable.”
Anthony Pough, a member of the Secret Service, was put on leave after an inflammatory post on Thursday suggesting Kirk’s killing was “karma”.
“If you are Mourning [sic] this guy .. delete me,” Mr Pough wrote on Facebook. “He spewed hate and racism on his show.”
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn had shared the post, writing on X, “It goes without saying he cannot be trusted to carry out that mission and should be fired immediately. We cannot sit by and let tragedy strike again.”
Mr Pough’s post was up for hours before being reported.
“The US Secret Service will not tolerate any behaviour which violates our code of conduct,” a Secret Service spokesperson told the NY Post. “We are aware of the employee’s social media post from today, and the individual has been placed on administrative leave as we investigate the matter.”
A large number of those celebrating Kirk’s death appeared to be school teachers.
Southside High School social studies teacher, Wynne Boliek, of Greenville, South Carolina, who describes himself on his Instagram profile as a “Boston terrier owner packaged up nicely as one big queer hot mess”, celebrated the assassination by writing, “America became better today. There I said it.”
He was fired on Thursday by the school district, which said in a statement, “We have concluded our investigation of the matter and confirmed the inappropriate message was written by Mr Boliek. He is no longer employed with Greenville County Schools.”
By Thursday afternoon, only a small number of school districts had responded to the outcries.
However, state officials in Florida issued a warning pledging to punish any “vile, sanctionable” behaviour from teachers directly related to Kirk’s death.
In the media, Gerald Bourguet, an NBA writer for PHNX, was fired over a series of posts on X.
“Truly don’t care if you think it’s insensitive or poor timing to decline to respect an evil man who died,” he said in one post.
“Too many of you are more concerned with being polite and *appearing* to be good people rather than showing some damn backbone and standing on principal (sic) to condemn hate.”
PHNX Sports did not refer to Bourguet by name in a statement announcing the dismissal, but the Arizona Republic confirmed he was the one to go.
“The opinions expressed by our employees do not represent the views of PHNX or ALLCITY Network,” the company wrote on X.
“We take matters involving violence very seriously and are committed to ensuring that ALLCITY remains a safe place for our employees and community alike. We have addressed this matter with the individual and made the decision to part ways.”
The NFL’s Carolina Panthers also announced it had fired Charlie Rock, a member of its communications team.
A number of X users tagged the Panthers with purported screenshots of Mr Rock’s post, which featured an image of Kirk and the message, “Why are y’all sad? Your man said it was worth it…”
A second slide allegedly featured the Wu-Tang Clan song Protect Ya Neck.
“The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers,” the Panthers said in a statement posted Thursday morning on X.
“We do not condone violence of any kind. We are taking this matter very seriously and have accordingly addressed it with the individual.”
In Australia, Hannah Ferguson, co-founder of independent news commentary platform Cheek Media, also said she was logging off social media after a deluge of threats in response to a lengthy article about Kirk’s death.
“Am I glad that Charlie Kirk will no longer spread his extremist messaging? Yes,” she wrote in the viral piece.
“Am I happy that someone shot him in the neck in broad daylight? No … Is violence sometimes necessary? Yes.”
One social media user branded it “quite literally the most disgusting piece of political writing I have ever read”.
On Friday, Ferguson turned her profile to private, writing, “With death threats at a record high, I shall be taking a few days away from my phone.”
Social media influencer and reality star Abbie Chatfield said she was living in fear after being inundated with threats over posts about Kirk’s murder.
“I am in fear,” she said in a lengthy statement on Friday.
“I’ve received numerous death threats with my address in them.”
Kirk’s killing on Wednesday sparked a flood of tributes and condemnation from across the political aisle.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese branded the incident “horrific”.
“There is no place for violence,” Mr Albanese said on Friday.
“I think the world is shocked by such an event, and my heart goes out to Mr Kirk’s family and to all those who will be grieving today in the United States.”
