Turning Point unrepentant after 'really harmful' brigade on high school teachers

Editor’s Note: This headline has been updated for clarity.

Arizona Central reports high school teachers in Pima County are still reeling from online harassment and attacks after their Halloween costumes sparked outrage from Turning Point USA and Republican critics last week. But school officials say the educators wore the “bloody” shirts to advocate for math education, not to mock the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“These shirts were part of a math-themed Halloween costume meant to represent solving tough math problems,” Vail School District Superintendent John Carruth said in a letter to the school community. “The shirts were never intended to target any person, event, or political issue.”

AZ Central reports the firestorm erupted on Oct. 31, after teachers in the Cienega High School math department were photographed wearing bloodied white T-shirts with the phrase “Problem Solved” in black text. The school district shared a photo of the Halloween costumes on Facebook, which exploded over the internet thanks to lingering tension around Kirk’s murder seven weeks ago.

Turning Point’s online megaphone opened the gates to a blast of criticism and denunciation on X and other social media platforms, according to AZ Central. But the costumes had been used in reference to solving math problems at earlier events in 2024, long before Kirk’s assassination.

“But to leaders at Turning Point USA, Kirk’s political organization, the costumes resembled the white T-shirt Kirk wore when he was shot in the neck at an event in September. That shirt had also been emblazoned with black text, which read ‘FREEDOM.’ It became a symbol for his mourners after he died,” AZ Central reports.

“@vailschools, shut your school down, it's nothing more than a den of vile verminous scum. Shut this place down,” posted one commenter on X the day after Halloween, seemingly without knowing the full context of the image. “At the very least defund it entirely.”

Top elected leaders in the Republican Party also chimed in, with Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis accusing the teachers of “glorifying a murder just because they disagreed with the victim” in a post on X.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who is himself known for incendiary comments regarding accident and death when victims are Democrats, amplified a post identifying each teacher with their name, phone number and email address.

Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) called the teachers “BLOODTHIRSTY” and “psychopaths” before deleting his post demanding they be fired.

“The fact that this photo was taken so out of context and spread so quickly without doing some simple fact-checking has been really harmful,” said Superintendent Carruth.

But Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet was unwilling to let go of his claim against the teachers despite the shirts also appearing last year.

“It's a very weird costume for teachers in general, but after what happened to Charlie, I'm absolutely floored they wore it again,” Kolvet said on X. “I do not believe for a second that all of them are innocent.”

Read the AZ Central report at this link.