Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas warned educators on Thursday to abstain from celebrating violence after a teacher was suspended for making exuberant statements about political influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) praised Kamoutsas for committing to conduct an investigation into every teacher who engaged in such “vile” behavior in the wake of outrage against Ridgeview Elementary teacher Kelly Brock-Sanchez for making the controversial post on Facebook.
“Teachers are held to a higher standard as public servants and must ensure their conduct does not undermine the trust of the students and families they serve,” Kamoutsas said in a post to X. “We will hold teachers who choose to make disgusting comments about the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk accountable. Govern yourselves accordingly.”
In a letter to school district superintendents across the Sunshine State, the commissioner noted that he did not believe Brock-Sanchez’s posts were “a reflection of the great, high-quality teachers who make up the vast majority” of Florida educators. “Nevertheless, I will be conducting an investigation of every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior,” he committed.
The Ridgeview Elementary teacher posted a statement that sparked the uproar under the Facebook page, Kelly Steel Magnolia, before Facebook removed the post on Thursday, according to Clay Today. It appeared to suggest that she favored the death of both President Donald Trump and Kirk.
Brock-Sanchez posted a photo of Kirk, along with the statement: “This may not be the obituary. We were all hoping to wake up to, but this is a close second for me.” The comment was connected to the cut-and-paste headline: “Charlie Kirk killed in shooting in Utah campus event, Donald Trump says …”
The post was swiftly highlighted by Republicans such as Scott Presler, who is credited with helping Trump flip Pennsylvania red during the 2024 election and has sought to identify a number of other similar statements from dozens of teachers and other individuals praising Kirk’s murder in screenshots to X.
“Record every single person celebrating the assassination,” Presler said Wednesday, the day Kirk was fatally shot by a gunman during an event at a Utah university. “Hold them accountable. Every single one.”
Brock-Sanchez made a second post saying “one last evil person” was on the planet in response to Kirk’s death, according to Fox News.
“Charlie Kirk had two kids and STILL SAID gun deaths were the cost to keep the 2nd amendment…….this philosophy led to his own death becoming an acceptable cost…… one of the top five Trump surrogates. One less evil person on this planet,” the post read.
Clay County District Schools said Brock-Sanchez is being investigated by the district’s human resources department and has been suspended from her duties teaching second and third-grade classes.
Kirk, 31, was killed on Wednesday by an unidentified gunman, leaving behind a wife and two young children after building a career as a conservative political activist known for engaging with youth on college campuses through Turning Point USA and helping Trump win the election in 2024.
His assassination in Utah this week has left the country reeling, stirring questions about the state of democracy due to the rise of ideological polarization and political violence that many fear threatens the pillars of unfettered free speech and other constitutional rights.
By and large, both sides of the aisle have expressed grief over Kirk’s death.
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However, celebratory statements from people such as Brock-Sanchez and others have resulted in suspensions and firings from their positions across several states.
“If anyone … celebrated even a little bit at the news of this shooting,” Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) said during a press conference, “I would beg you to look in the mirror and to see if you can find a better angel in there.”
