Gov. Abbott called out the teacher after a widely followed user on X shared a photo of the apparent comment.
SAN ANTONIO — A day after Gov. Greg Abbott singled out a Seguin ISD teacher for appearing to have referred to Charlie Kirk’s killing as “karma,” saying such sentiments “have no place in our schools,” district officials said they were looking into the online comments.
“These comments were inappropriate and do not reflect the values and beliefs of our school district,” a Seguin ISD spokesperson said, adding leaders would “address this situation consistent with district policy.”
In a Wednesday afternoon post on X, Abbott reshared a post from an account with nearly a quarter of a million followers that included a screenshot of Facebook comments appeared to have been made by a user named Tammy Bennett.
In the screenshot, Bennett is seen commenting “Karma found him” on an unknown post, the content of which is cropped out. Another Facebook user criticized Bennett, to which she responded with a graphic referring to past comments Kirk made about the Civil Rights Act and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Kirk, a popular conservative activist and speaker who co-founded Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while speaking at a Utah Valley University event on Sept. 10, resulting in a firestorm of debate over First Amendment rights and what should or shouldn’t be said publicly about Kirk or his assassination.
The user who shared the screenshot identified Bennett as a Seguin ISD teacher. A Tammy Bennett is listed as a staff member with Ball Early Childhood Center in Seguin.
“Assassination is not Karma. It’s murder,” Abbott wrote on X. “Teachers who are this detached from civility in our society have no place in our schools. This is added to the investigation by the Texas Education Agency. THAT, is Karma.”
Seguin ISD said it reported the comments to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to determine whether they constitute a violation of the Educators’ Code of Ethics. If so, Bennett could be disciplined.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath told superintendents last week that the state agency would investigate public school teachers and school staff members who are accused of posting or sharing “reprehensible or inappropriate” content on social media about Kirk’s assassination. As of Thursday afternoon, the TEA said it had received 281 such complaints and was working to reach each of them.
“These educators’ comments do not reflect the vast majority of Texas teachers who are dedicated practitioners that work diligently to serve the more than 5.5 million impressionable young minds in our classrooms,” Morath said in his letter.
Educators all over the country, including here in Texas, have been placed on leave or even fired for their comments about the shooting.
The fallout has also impacted Texas students. Hours after Abbott on Tuesday pressured Texas State University to expel a student who was seen in a video mocking Kirk’s death, the school took action.