An employee of the Carolina Panthers football team was fired for a social media post about the recent fatal shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Rock was promoted to football communications coordinator after joining the Panthers team, which is based out of Charlotte, as a PR intern in 2024. Instagram account @footballforever, which posts football highlights and news, made a post on the firing, which featured a screenshot of Rock’s original post. Media outlets like the New York Times have also reported on the firing.
The Carolina Panthers X account later posted, “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.”
What did Charlie Rock write about Charlie Kirk?
Rock shared a picture of Kirk on his personal Instagram story, writing “Why are y’all sad? Your man said it was worth it…” and a screenshot of the Wu-Tang Clan song “Protect Ya Neck.”
What happened to Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was fatally shot at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on Sept. 10.
Who is Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was a 31-year-old conservative influencer and the founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that pushes for conservative politics on high school and college campuses. He was beginning his “The American Comeback Tour” at the time of his death, where he hosted a “prove me wrong” table in which audience members were invited to debate Kirk in a public setting.
Have they arrested someone in Charlie Kirk’s shooting?
Authorities have one suspect in custody. Tyler Robinson, 22, attended school in the southern Utah city of St. George and was named as the suspected shooter on Sept. 12.
President Donald Trump announced in an interview the morning of Sept. 12 that a suspect was in custody.
“We have him,” Trump said in an interview on Fox and Friends.
Trump said with a “high degree of certainty,” law enforcement has the suspect in the Kirk killing in custody.
“Essentially, somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” Trump said.
Reuters earlier reported that two suspects originally apprehended after Kirk’s shooting were released.
Are flags being flown at half-staff for Charlie Kirk?
Flags were flown at half-staff countrywide on Sept. 11 for Patriot Day, which honors the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as well as the first responders and service members who assisted in the aftermath.
President Donald Trump also ordered flags across the nation, at military posts and at embassies, to remain flown at half-staff until Sept. 14, to honor Kirk, according to a White House proclamation.
“He fought for liberty, democracy, justice and the American people,” Trump said in a pre-recorded message from the Oval Office posted to Truth Social late Sept. 10. “He’s a martyr for truth and freedom and there’s never been anyone who was so respected by youth.”
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
USA TODAY contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Carolina Panthers employee Charlie Rock fired for Charlie Kirk post