Two major Republican candidates for governor – Senate President Ty Masterson and former Gov. Jeff Colyer – are calling for the state Education Department to fire an employee who remarked on social media that the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk was “well deserved.”
Masterson and Colyer are demanding the firing of Katie Allen, who works as a research analyst for the Kansas Department of Education and serves as a member of the Manhattan-Ogden School District.
The Manhattan Mecury reported Allen’s apology on Thursday when she was sharply criticized by Masterson and Colyer, two conservative rivals for the Republican nomination for governor next year.
“Late this afternoon I was walking to my car and scrolling Facebook,” she wrote in a statement published by the newspaper, “and then an emotional moment I commented on a post related to a recent shooting,” Allen wrote.
“I looked back at the post when I got to my car I quickly realized I didn’t intend the meaning the two words I wrote had so I deleted my comment. Too late – it only took moments for social media users to screen grab my words and quickly spread them,” she wrote.
She added, “For anyone who was offended by my words, I deeply apologize. That is not who I am or what I believe – which is why I deleted that comment so fast.
“Like many of you, I am deeply worried about the violence and discontent happening in America today and will continue to advocate for common sense laws that keep our kids a community safe. When I make a mistake, I own it and promise to do better.”
Masterson sent out a statement late Thursday condemning Allen’s post.
“Charlie Kirk was murdered for sharing his faith and expressing his political views. Katie Allen’s statement that he deserved to die is absolutely reprehensible,” he said.
“Anyone holding such a belief should not be employed by the state of Kansas and has no place making policy decisions for our children,” Masterson said.
He called on Education Commissioner Randy Watson to immediately fire Allen. He also said she should resign from the school board.
Efforts to reach Allen for comment were unsuccessful Friday. A spokesperson for the Education Department said the agency had no comment.
The Manhattan newspaper reported that Allen was replying to a repost on Facebook by Courtney Jane Hochman, a school board candidate.
The newspaper said the original Facebook post, from People magazine, reported the death shooting death of Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative influencer who was close to President Donald Trump.
Kirk was assassinated this week while addressing thousands of students on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah.
Authorities on Friday announced they were holding 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as a suspect in the shooting.
“When a state employee publicly celebrates the political assassination of a national figure, it embarrasses Kansas and erodes public trust,” Colyer said in a statement.
“The KS Legislature must investigate our entire education system’s hiring policies and practices,” Colyer posted on social media.
“We cannot continue to spend hard working Kansans tax dollars to pay far-left extremists to indoctrinate our students. Kansas deserves better. If they don’t do it I will.”
Allen once chaired the Riley County Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully in a precinct committee election against Usha Reddi to replace Democrat Tom Hawk in the Senate.
This isn’t the first time that Colyer and Masterson, who are fighting over a similar pool of Republican voters in the primary, have called out a state employee for articulating views they said are outlandish.
They criticized a civil rights investigator at Kansas State University who had come under fire for public comments he made about supporting Hamas after it attacked Israel in 2023.
They criticized a system that allowed the hiring of Derron Borders in 2024 as an investigator in K-State’s Civil Rights and Title IX office after his pro-Hamas comments made headlines in the New York Post in 2023.
They later revealed that Borders had been suspended by the university. The school didn’t comment, saying it was a personnel matter.
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