Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to cut off federal funding from taxpayer-funded institutions that don't discipline employees who celebrated or excused the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk last week in Utah.
In a letter Friday, Mace called for McMahon "to review and terminate Federal financial assistance to any elementary, secondary, and post-secondary educational institution which fails to take administrative action or discipline, to the maximum extent allowed by law against any personnel who choose to justify political violence or celebrate the assassination of Charlie Kirk."
In a news release, Mace cited South Carolina examples:
- Clemson University: Three professors have publicly cheered Kirk's assassination.
- Greenville County Schools: A teacher openly celebrated Kirk's death; the district quickly placed the individual on leave.
- Charleston County School District: The district confirmed reports of a teacher celebrating Kirk's assassination were false, and the teacher in question is not employed or affiliated with the district.
- Coastal Carolina University: An employee allegedly suggested Kirk was to blame for his own assassination because he "repeated bigoted ideas."
Nationwide, there have been several instances of employees at Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Mississippi, and school districts in Florida, Idaho, and New York who have been disciplined for celebrating Kirk's death.
"Those who have spent the last several days celebrating the assassination of our fellow citizen or defending politically motivated violence are not just being insensitive to all mourning the death of Charles, their rhetoric is sick and disturbing," Mace wrote. "Children and young adults should not be taught by those who promote or excuse political violence."
Newsmax reached out to the Education Department for comment.
The Trump administration has warned federal employees about celebrating or mocking Kirk's death, and in some cases employees reportedly have been disciplined.
The Secret Service put an employee who posted that Kirk's death was "karma" on administrative leave pending investigation.
At the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at least one worker was suspended for mocking President Donald Trump's order to fly flags at half-staff after Kirk's death.
The Coast Guard said an employee's social media post about Kirk was "contrary to our core values," and it vowed to "take appropriate action and hold the individual accountable."
Mace had been pressuring Clemson to act against the professors who publicly cheered Kirk's death, and the school's Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting Monday to address the issue. WHNS-TV in Greenville, South Carolina, reported less than an hour before the meeting that the university confirmed an employee was fired after an investigation into social media posts. Two others have been removed from teaching duties pending an investigation.
"[The employees] violated the code of ethics that the university holds us as students, its faculty, and its staff to," Jack Lyle, president of Clemson College Republicans, told WHNS. "They set a very high bar, a high standard, and failing to uphold that standard by allowing these men to say what they have said and maintain their employment is something we find totally unacceptable."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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