‘A real problem:’ DeSantis supports firing Florida teachers who celebrate Charlie Kirk assassination

APALACHICOLA, Fla. – During a news conference on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced his support for firing teachers, nurses and other workers for celebrating the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘Look, buddy: politically, I would never think it would be good for something like that to happen,’” he stated. “It’s not good for, obviously, the victim and the family. It’s not good for society for this stuff to happen. So to be out there cheering — it was a real problem.”

The issue popped up in the state after Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced last week that he’d learned of some educators in the state who had posted “despicable comments” online regarding Kirk’s death.

Since then, FEA President Andrew Spar told News 6 that he was aware of eight teachers statewide who’d been placed on leave for social media posts that referenced Kirk’s death.

“Just as a dad of young kids, I wouldn’t want my kids in a classroom being taught by a teacher who thought it was fit to revel in the assassination of a father of two,” DeSantis said on Wednesday. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

Kamoutsas explained that certified educators in Florida are subject to ethical guidelines, and violating those rules could result in teachers’ certificates being revoked.

[RELATED: See how Florida leaders are reacting to Kirk’s death]

The education commissioner also addressed First Amendment concerns in his announcement, stating that those rights “do not extend without limit into their professional duties.”

“People say, ‘Oh, well, people can do what they want, free speech.’ Well, yeah, no one’s saying the government’s going to put you in jail for doing that,” DeSantis stated. “But I do think it’s a problem. Is that someone you want teaching your kids, when they say... this assassination should be celebrated? Of course not. And so you are getting teachers in Florida who are getting pink slips.”

The issue doesn’t just stop with teachers, though. Earlier this week, a Florida wildlife employee was fired over a social media post that the FWC says “made light” of Kirk’s assassination.

DeSantis questioned whether people with those sorts of views should be working in other capacities, as well, such as in healthcare.

“Do you want one of these nurses that was glorifying a 31-year-old father of two getting murdered in broad daylight?” he asked. “No.”

From there, DeSantis said that the state would continue making sure that teachers are held to a “higher standard.”

“You have a right to do that stuff, but you also have a responsibility in these positions of public trust to behave in ways that are consistent with, I think, appropriate standards,” the governor declared.

Videos arose on social media last week, showing Kirk speaking with a handheld microphone at Utah Valley University before a gunshot rang out, and Kirk could be seen reaching up as blood gushed from the left side of his neck.

He was hospitalized shortly afterward, though President Donald Trump — a political figure whom Kirk publicly championed and advocated for — later took to the social media platform Truth Social to announce Kirk’s death.

Authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a 22-year-old Utah man on suspicion of killing Kirk. Tyler Robinson was taken into custody Thursday night after surrendering, and investigators said they believe he acted alone.

Prosecutors have since brought a murder charge against Robinson, whose parents reportedly told investigators that he’d become much more left-wing politically over the last year.

Authorities have not yet confirmed a clear motive in the shooting, but Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray that Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.