Gov. Ron DeSantis says he's in favor of firing teachers, nurses and other public servants who "revel" over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on social media.
Kirk was killed last week on a Utah college campus. A suspect has been charged with aggravated murder and other charges.
A few hours after the shooting, Florida Education Commissioner Stasi Kamoutsas in a letter to school superintendents said teachers who celebrated Kirk's death could lose their jobs and licenses.
Four teachers in Osceola County are currently being investigated over their posts. The school district has not released details of the posts that prompted the investigations.
DeSantis said Wednesday he supports these investigations and possible firings.
"Just as a dad of young kids, I would not want my kids in a classroom being taught by a teacher who thought it was fit to revel in the assassination of a young father of two, I don't think that's appropriate," said DeSantis.
The governor said he's also in favor of firing nurses and government workers over such social media posts, and he pushed back against free speech advocates who say debating the issues of the day on social media is a First Amendment Right.
"No one is saying the government's going to put you in jail for doing that. But I do think it's a problem. Is that someone you want teaching your kids when they say that this is something, this assassination should be celebrated? Of course not," said DeSantis.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida disagrees.
In a statement, the ACLU condemned all political violence, but regarding social media posts it said it stands "ready to protect and preserve this essential First Amendment right guaranteed by our Constitution, even when we disagree."
"Government actors calling for people to lose their jobs and livelihoods because they exercised their right to freely express political views that are controversial — a right Kirk himself exercised and encouraged for others — is alarming," the ACLU of Florida said. "Our state leaders should be focused on quelling tensions, not exacerbating them by stoking further division and punishing viewpoints with which they disagree."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fired an employee Monday over social media comments after Kirk's death.
A neurologist at the University of Miami medical school was also fired over a post about Kirk in which she quoted Malcolm X, who said "the chickens have come home to roost” after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
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