They lost their jobs after posting about Charlie Kirk, but some have no regrets

In September 2025, Gerald Bourguet felt he was finally living his dream life: he and his wife had bought a house with a pool, they had just welcomed a baby boy, and he was writing about professional men's basketball as his full-time job.

But all of that changed after he made a series of online posts critical of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk hours after he was fatally shot on 10 September, while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University.

In the posts, Bourguet described Kirk as an "evil man" and suggested he had dedicated his life to hateful causes. He also criticised Kirk's supporters saying they had not been vocal about school shootings.

"I had seen the way that people were talking about this person - kind of eulogising him and lionising him and it bothered me based on a lot of the things that he had said," Bourguet told the BBC.

Kirk, who founded Christian youth organisation Turning Point USA, was a divisive figure in US politics. For many on the political right, he was charismatic and had a unique skill in making conservative ideas appeal to young people. But for his opponents, his comments on a large swathe of issues from race to immigration, gun control and gender identity were deeply offensive.

Screenshots of Bourguet's critical posts went viral quickly. He was fired from his job, his address was exposed online, and he began receiving threatening text messages, he said. Concerned for their safety, the family fled the state with their four-month-old. They returned months later to sell the house and permanently relocated.

A year later, he says he doesn't regret what he said, but acknowledged: "My life will never be the same after this".

"At age 35, I am having to start over in a lot of respects… I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," Bourguet said from his new location, which the BBC agreed to not disclose.

PHNX Sports, Bourguet's former employer, did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Bourguet was one of hundreds fired or disciplined over critical comments of Kirk after his death. While some of those who have lost their jobs have been reinstated or received restitution - sometimes in the millions - others like Bourguet have had to rebuild from scratch.

'Call their employer'

In the aftermath of Kirk's assassination, most people kept their feelings to themselves, or shared them with close friends.

But on polarised social media, people rushed to laude, or denounce, the controversial activist. Some called the criticisms, posted hours after his death, tasteless. But others called for swift action, arguing they were callous, mocking, and could even incite further violence.

Laura Loomer, an influential right-wing commentator with nearly 2 million followers on X, warned Kirk's critics to "prepare to have your whole future professional aspirations ruined".

The push for punishment also came from the highest levels of US government.

"When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out," Vice-President JD Vance said days after the assassination. "And hell, call their employer," he added.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the BBC: "Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible."

Critics on the left said there was a difference between criticism of Kirk and celebrating his death. Some accused these conservative leaders of hypocrisy, as many had previously bemoaned the rise of "cancel culture" – where people who voice controversial opinions face severe consequences at work and socially.

"Cancel culture can be good, it's bad when it's applied in the wrong ways," Jordan Pace, a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, told the BBC. "If you are someone who celebrates political assassinations and the murder of an innocent man with two young children in a way that many people did, then yeah, that's an appropriate way for society to function, to shame those people."

Pace had previously called for defunding universities in his state if they didn't take actions against employees who made comments about Kirk. One of his posts was re-shared by US President Donald Trump.

Across the nation, some employers – private and public – acted swiftly to the pressure campaign. Reliable figures on the number of people fired or disciplined are hard to come by, but a Reuters tally last November found more than 600 instances. It is likely an under-count because not all cases received national or local press attention.