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The Carolina Panthers have fired a member of their communications department due to an “insensitive social media post” following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
The Charlotte Observer reported Thursday morning that Charlie Rock, a football communications coordinator, had been let go in the wake of the post, citing a source.
“The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers. We do not condone violence of any kind. We are taking this matter very seriously and have accordingly addressed it with the individual,” the Panthers said in a statement posted Thursday morning on X.
A number of X users tagged the Panthers on the social media platform with purported screenshots of the post, which featured an image of Kirk and the message, “Why are yall sad? Your man said it was worth it …” A second slide allegedly featured the song, “Protect Ya Neck,” by the Wu-Tang Clan.
Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. The father of two was 31 years old.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” President Trump wrote Wednesday in a message on Truth Social.
“He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Kirk was honored Wednesday night by the Yankees, who held a moment of silence ahead of their 11-1 loss to the Tigers.
Trump, set to be in attendance for Thursday’s game in the Bronx on the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, announced Kirk will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.
A rifle has since been recovered in the hunt for Kirk’s assassin.
