Working people from around the country are losing their jobs after they posted jokes and comments online about the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, USA Today reported.
School employees, a restaurant worker, a fire chief, and a councilwoman have all lost their jobs or resigned after outrage over their posts, according to statements by their employers and news reports.
Kyle Gass, one half of the Tenacious D duo (the other being Jack Black), was also met with backlash after he jokingly complained on stage during their show on Sunday that the shooter had missed, a sentiment which was common in many of the social media posts that followed the assassination attempt. Jack Black said he was “blindsided” by Gass’ comment and “would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.” He also announced they would be canceling the rest of their tour in the same statement.
In his own statement shared Tuesday on Instagram, Gass apologized for the comment and clarified it was not planned. The post has since been taken down.
“The line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake,” he said. “I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone. What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement.”
Others reprimanded include an instructor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, John James, who was put on unpaid leave over what university officials said on Monday was an “offensive and unacceptable social media post.” By Tuesday, James was no longer employed there, though it’s not clear if he resigned or was fired, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
Others out of a job include a middle school behavior facilitator in South Dakota and a Pennsylvania fire chief. In Wayne, Pennsylvania, the Wayne Business Association said its secretary resigned after a post about the shooting.
Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the University of South California and a psychologist told USA TODAY these instances demonstrate that, “No matter how private your life is, everybody has an audience.”
“Social media has become the town square, where people are put in the stocks and held out there to be humiliated because of their actions.,” she added.
