Teacher called Charlie Kirk ‘fascist’ & was put on leave, dividing Kansas town
In the western town of Dodge City, Kansas, residents expressed outrage Tuesday after the superintendent of schools announced that a high school teacher had been placed on “paid administrative leave” following an incident that “had disrupted the educational process and eroded public confidence in the district.”
The Sept. 16 letter did not name the teacher or the incident, “due to personnel and privacy laws,” but it didn’t have to. Word of the matter and screenshots had already spread across social media.
The teacher: Dodge City High School debate coach Johnny Dunlap.
The incident: what he wrote — not to students, or during school hours— but in a conversation on his own social media account regarding Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative activist and ally of Donald Trump, who was assassinated Sept. 10 while addressing students on the campus of Utah Valley University.
Dunlap opined to another individual online that he thought Kirk was “a fascist,” saying his death was “not a loss for our country,” although his “children did not deserve to lose their dad.”
Consequences or right to speak one’s mind?
The conversation was picked up and shared online. Passions erupted from two points of view: those calling for the school employee’s removal, and those saying that he was well within his rights to express his own personal opinion on his own personal social media account.
“Johnny Dunlap should be fired!!!!,” one poster declared.
Said another: “He’s not teaching the students this in class. He’s using his freedom of speech as well as you. . .You know damn well if this was a teacher talking about how bad they feel for Charlie Kirk you guys would be all for it. . .Y’all are just mad he doesn’t stand for MAGA.”
The Star contacted Dunlap. He declined to speak about the incident, and referred calls to the Kansas National Education Association, part of the national teachers’ union, which emailed The Star a written statement:
“The Kansas National Education Association believes that all political violence is wrong,” it said. “We respect the confidentiality and privacy of our members and therefore will not share details of any active investigation that we may be involved in.
“We are proud to share that we stand in support of our members and the free speech rights of public school educators. Threats against any person and their livelihoods are inappropriate. KNEA values professionalism in education and cares deeply about creating and maintaining safe learning environments that respect the rights of all Kansas students.”
Hundreds of heated posts, however, were logged online following the superintendent’s letter, with people arguing back and forth.
“Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequences right???” one wrote.
In agreement: “People are learning they have a freedom of speech from government prosecution. That freedom of speech does not give you the freedom of consequences from your employer! Huge difference that hundreds are learning over the last week!”
“What a joke,” a resident argued. “There are teachers throughout the building who openly display their personal beliefs on classroom walls or make it obvious where they stand politically. Yet, when a teacher who has always allowed students to freely and loudly express themselves makes one extremely minor comment, it suddenly becomes an issue. . .
“In this case, no student was involved, nor did he say, ‘You’re stupid if you think Charlie Kirk was a great man.’ He didn’t attack anyone.”
Numerous posters pointed to the situation as one they viewed as both ironic and hypocritical.
“In recognition of Charlie Kirk’s commitment to free speech we are calling for the resignation of anyone who criticizes him!” one poster wrote.
Right-wing v. left-wing extremism
In his letter, Jason R. Scheck, the district’s superintendent, said the teacher would be on leave “pending the outcome of a full investigation.”
“The Board and district leadership are committed to conducting a thorough and fair investigation,” the letter continued. “We will take appropriate action based on the findings and will continue to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and accountability in our school.”
Since Kirk’s death, Trump and members of his administration have said they plan to use the Justice Department and other avenues to target what he calls the “radical left,” which he blames for inciting the majority of the nation’s political violence.
Scholarship, however, shows the opposite.
As part of a February 2024 report, “Global Terrorist Threat Assessment 2024,” the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies analyzed 831 terrorist attacks in the United States from 1994 to 2022. It also looked at more recent incidents that included 108 terrorism fatalities over the last five years.
The report found that right-wing extremists were responsible for 87% of the fatalities. Of 71 terrorist attacks perpetrated in 2022, far-right extremists were responsible for 69%.
The report, however, cited trends on both sides:
“Violent far-right perpetrators, such as white supremacists, anti-government extremists and violent misogynists, have committed the most U.S. terrorist attacks in recent years,” the report said, “but violent far-left perpetrators such as antifascist extremists, anarchists and violent environmentalists have also orchestrated a growing percentage of terrorist attacks.”
Dunlap being placed on paid administrative leave came on the same day that another Kansas employee, Katie Allen, who was elected to the Manhattan-Ogden school board in 2023, was fired from her job as research analyst for the Kansas Department of Education.
Following Kirk’s assassination, Allen commented online that his death was “well deserved.” Allen immediately apologized for the comment. She nonetheless lost her job amid calls for her ouster from Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, who is running next year for governor.
“Nobody who celebrates political violence should shape our kids’ education. Thanks to swift action, she’s out at KSDE,” Masterson, an Andover Republican, posted to X after Allen’s removal.
In his own post, former Gov. Jeff Colyer, who also is running again for governor in 2026, called Allen’s firing “the right outcome.”
“Taxpayer-funded positions cannot be a platform for celebrating terrorism and political violence,” he wrote. “But Kansas can’t stop here. It’s time for a full legislative review of hiring policies and practices across our public education system to ensure standards of professionalism and respect are upheld.”
Reporter Matthew Kelly contributed to this story.
