WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – At least two educators at North Country schools are on administrative leave over controversial social media posts about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Over the weekend, officials in the Watertown and Carthage school districts acknowledged that they were investigating the comments.
Carthage Superintendent Jennifer Premo stated that the social media post by the teacher in her district had caused “significant concern and outrage” in the community.
The teacher reportedly posted the following: “Finally, an assassin that didnt (sic) miss their mark. Thoughts and prayers (followed by a “zany face” emoji to express silliness).
Watertown Superintendent Larry Schmiegel said the post made by a teacher’s aide in his district does not reflect the opinions of the district.
That aide reportedly posted: “Charlie Kirk – (followed by a laugh-cry emoji) I’m sorry but that dude was a f**g d**k and didn’t care about gun violence towards children…’sacrifice a few lives’, right? ‘Some gun deaths are, unfortunately worth it’ – Charlie Kirk. Good riddance (followed by the victory hand emoji). Who’s next?”
In the Indian River Central School District, Superintendent Troy Decker acknowledged that a “partner” working with the district posted a controversial comment. He said he couldn’t comment on the partner’s employment status since the partner’s employer is working on the investigation.
The person reportedly posted: “F**ck Charlie Kirk and f**ck you if you label him as anything other than a racist piece of s**t who hated women and minorities. He’s not a martyr, he wasn’t admirable for ‘engaging the youth’, and he died defending the system that brought his demise. No one should die like that, no one should have to witness death like that, but I would rather reserve my sympathy and empathy for children dying in schools and the children who have to live with the burden of feeling unsafe and scared in a place that is supposed to be a safety net for them.”
While the names of the people making the posts are widely known on social media, 7NEWS is not identifying them because we haven’t been able to reach them for comment.
Stephen Todd, superintendent of the Jefferson-Lewis BOCES system, says it’s a time for everyone to stop and think.
“I’m just hopeful that all of us will just try to be mindful of everything we say and do in the context of, is what I’m going to say or do going to bring down the temperature in our society, or will it bring it up,” he said.
Thousands of people have seen the social media posts and hundreds have commented. Most people are outraged over the comments and want people fired. Others say it’s their First Amendment right to say what they want.
We asked a Syracuse University law professor Roy Gutterman if the authors of the posts would be protected by their freedom of speech.
“You can’t legislate or litigate bad taste or uncomfortable statements, or even offensive statements. I think it’s a difficult road to start reigning in people for off-campus speech,” he said.
School leaders say districts often have policies that allow them to take action when a staff member’s actions cause disruption to the education environment.
The outrage on social media after these posts also has teachers’ unions warning their members about what they say and where they say it.
In a letter, the union representing Watertown teachers said, “Even as teachers, we have a first amendment right to freedom of speech. This includes political speech that is controversial…The district can also use our contractual discipline system (even for tenured teachers) if our postings are considered immoral.”
The union representing Carthage teachers sent an informal note to its members about how to act when it comes to social media.
Todd understands people want as much information as possible from school districts when it comes to the employees involved, and asks the community to understand there are limits to what can be said.
“I know the leaders of our schools. I know them to be good and honorable people. I know they will share with their communities everything they can, and that if they’re not sharing particular pieces of information, I would hope that members of the community would realize that they’re doing as much as they can, 1 to investigate, 2 to do what’s right, and 3 not to create further inflammation of a situation,” he said.
Kirk, the co-founder of conservative activist organization Turning Point USA, was killed during an event at Utah Valley University last week.
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