Kansas worker ousted after post calling Charlie Kirk’s death ‘deserved’

Hello, Star readers,

Today, we’re taking a look at how backlash over a Kansas school board member’s post in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death cost her a job with the state.

Next, we’ll get into:

• ‘A travesty’: Despite being charged with 22 felonies, the co-owner of an unregulated Missouri boarding school will not face prison time. “This is a slap in the face,” one advocate said.

• MO last resort: Racing the clock, a new campaign aims to force a statewide vote that could block implementation of a gerrymandered congressional map adopted by lawmakers last Friday.

This week in politics

In the hours after conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University, a Kansas school board member and state employee made a flippant Facebook comment.

Kirk’s death, Katie Allen posted, was “well deserved.” Allen, a Manhattan-Ogden school board member who worked as a research analyst with the Kansas State Department of Education, or KSDE, quickly deleted the comment and apologized.

But that didn’t stop prominent Kansas conservatives from calling for Allen to lose her job.

They got their wish.

“I can confirm that Katie Allen is no longer an employee at KSDE. We won’t be providing any additional comment,” agency spokesperson Denie Kahler said in an email statement Tuesday.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican who is running for governor, celebrated the decision in a social media post.

“Nobody who celebrates political violence should shape our kids’ education. Thanks to swift action, she’s out at KSDE,” Masterson said.

“We’re not done,” he continued. “She must step down from the school board, too. I’m committed to protecting Kansas values and ensuring our schools are led by those who respect all voices.”

Unless she chooses to resign, any effort to oust Allen from her local school board post would require a recall election in Riley County.

More from this past week

• A Kansas City firefighter who was at the wheel of the fire truck that killed three people in a deadly 2021 crash must get his KCFD job back, an arbiter ruled.

• Eyeing the gerrymandered map that splits Kansas City into three congressional districts, national Democrats are seeking candidates they think could win. Here’s who they recruited.

• Missouri lawmakers adopted a plan to weaken a powerful tool of direct democracy. Now it goes to voters.

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That’s all for now! See you next week.

This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM.