Attorney General Pam Bondi asked the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to investigate Office Depot after an employee refused to print a poster of Charlie Kirk.
An Office Depot employee in Michigan was fired after refusing to print posters for a vigil honoring the Turning Point USA CEO, who was assassinated in Utah on Sept. 10. The company also issued a public apology.
Office Depot said the Michigan store associates violated company policy that strives to provide print services to all customers in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner.
The incident revived a national debate over whether businesses or their employees can turn away customers with views they oppose, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
"Businesses cannot discriminate. If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie's pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that," Bondi said on Fox News, the Journal reported.
"We can prosecute you for that."
Bondi later took to social media to say "hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It's a crime."
The Supreme Court in 2023 ruled a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples.
The court ruled for the designer despite a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and other characteristics. The designer had argued that the law violated her free speech rights.
Although federal laws prohibit businesses from refusing service to customers because of their skin color, religion, or gender, for example, "those laws don't prohibit discrimination on the basis of political belief," said attorney Josh Goodbaum, who clerked for Neil Gorsuch before Gorsuch was elevated to the Supreme Court, the Journal reported.
The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with the right of individuals or companies to express ideas except in very limited circumstances.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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