A social media manager who thought the way to punish someone with opposing views was to endanger him and his family is now looking for a new job.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced during a Thursday interview with conservative talk radio host Pete Mundo that the city has "separated" from the employee who shared the city of residence for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker on social media after his viral commencement speech at Benedictine College, according to the Kansas City Star.
During his speech, Butker criticized abortion, referred to "pride month" as a celebration of "deadly sin," and promoted traditional gender roles, sparking backlash from leftists.
Four days later, the city's official X account revealed that Butker resides in the city of Lee's Summit, which is on the outskirts of Kansas City, before quickly deleting the post.
The social media post stated: "Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of Lee's Summit." Despite the deletion, the post induced backlash for "doxxing" Butker in relation to his beliefs.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey vowed to pursue action, accusing the city of retaliating against Butker for expressing his religious beliefs.
Bailey announced in a statement that his office "will not tolerate religious discrimination from City officials" and said he was prepared to use his authority under Missouri's Human Rights Act to defend religious expression.
"Missourians of faith deserve to know why Kansas City officials decided to attack Mr. Butker for his deeply held religious beliefs," Bailey wrote. "The mayor needs to immediately turn over his office's communications relating to this post."
Apparently, in response, the employee was subsequently fired.
Lucas called the social media post "clearly inappropriate" and said he hopes the city can move forward, according to the Kansas City Star.
"I think there has been accountability from the city of Kansas City," he said. "We all look forward to moving on. Letting the Chiefs play. Letting the city do what it's supposed to do in delivering basic services."
While the city did not identify the employee, a spokesperson for the mayor said the post was “outside the scope” of authorized communications but that there would be no additional comments about the post “or individual employees related to it,” the Kansas City Star reported.
The City of Kansas City tweeted and then deleted a dig at Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker on May 15.
That employee has now been fired. https://t.co/vHSaoHlkYf
— KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) May 23, 2024
Should have happened day one, but glad it was finally done.
— Bundy (@albundyretired) May 25, 2024
Doxxing someone because you disagree with their views essentially wields harassment and fear of physical harm as a weapon to chill speech you don't like.
It is a severe violation of privacy and personal safety, as well as the antithesis of acceptable conduct in a free society.
If the social media manager disagreed with Butker, he or she should never have used the official social media account to exert pressure against him over his views.
Traditional Christian values seem to incense leftists to such a degree that they will resort to inciting violence or harm.
And when that happens, as the city rightly did in this case, they need to go.
