The City of Kansas City social media employee who wrote a since-deleted post on X from the city’s official account that took aim at Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker was fired.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas revealed on KCMO talk radio that the employee had been “separated” from his job, and a statement from a spokesperson reiterated that later in the day.
“The employee has been separated from the City workforce for violation of City policy by posting outside the scope of authorized City communications. The City will have no further comment on the post or individual employees related to it,” the statement said.
The unnamed employee seemingly went rogue following the controversy surrounding Butker’s recent commencement speech at Benedictine College in which he took aim at President Joe Biden, the COVID-19 response, religion and working women, among other topics.
In the wake of that address, a post from the city’s official X account read: “Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of Lee’s Summit.”
The post was deleted, and the city and Lucas both issued apologies shortly after on social media.
“The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account,” Lucas wrote on X at the time. “The City has correctly apologized for the error, will review account access, and ensure nothing like it is shared in the future from public channels.”
While the city may be done with the employee, it might not be the only repercussion that the ex-staffer faces.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has made it clear he is “demanding accountability after [Kansas City] doxxed [Butker last night for daring to express his religious beliefs.”
“I will enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act to ensure Missourians are not targeted for their free exercise of religion. Stay tuned.”
Bailey’s office also requested Lucas to turn over documents following the since-deleted X post, KMBC reported.