After the July 13, 2024, shooting at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Libs of TikTok publicized social-media comments about the attack and, in some cases, tagged or contacted the commenters’ employers. Some people faced workplace consequences, but the viral claims were not all equally verified: one professor’s widely circulated alleged post was disavowed as fake, while other comments and employment actions were reported as real. A separate joke by Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass led the band to halt its tour, but the reporting does not establish that Libs of TikTok caused that decision.
What happened after the Butler rally shooting?
On July 13, 2024, a gunman attempted to kill then-former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Washington Post reported that a spectator was killed, two people were injured, and Trump’s ear was grazed. Jokes and memes about the attack spread on TikTok, X and other platforms.
The reactions ranged from dark humor to comments that readers could interpret as approving of political violence. In its July 18 report, Gizmodo described Libs of TikTok publicizing examples and contacting employers. The account is run by Chaya Raichik. Gizmodo reported that Home Depot said a featured worker no longer worked for the company; that response confirms the employment status the company described, but does not by itself establish every detail or cause asserted in the online campaign.
The episode raised two questions that should be kept distinct: whether a particular comment was authentic and what an employer or institution did after it was publicized. A viral post, an employer response and a claim about why someone was dismissed are not interchangeable evidence.
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Which employment claims were verified?
Raichik’s claim of ten firings
Gizmodo quoted Raichik’s Substack post claiming that “TEN DERANGED LEFTISTS” had been fired because Libs of TikTok showed that they supported murdering Trump. That is Raichik’s characterization and tally, not an independently audited count established by Gizmodo’s report. The cited coverage therefore supports saying that she claimed ten people had been fired, not presenting ten as a verified total.
A Bellarmine instructor’s reported post
Inside Higher Ed reported on July 24 that Bellarmine University English instructor John James said he posted, “If you’re gonna shoot, man, don’t miss,” and that Bellarmine fired him. This is a separate case from the false allegation involving Louise Kelly. Inside Higher Ed also described university inquiries involving other cases; an inquiry should not be described as a dismissal unless the reporting says that a dismissal occurred.
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What an employer response does—and does not—show
Home Depot’s reported statement that the worker highlighted in one example no longer worked there is evidence of that employment status, not independent confirmation of every claim about the worker’s post, the timing or the reason for the employment change. The available reports describe a campaign of publicizing comments and contacting employers, alongside particular employment consequences; they do not establish that every person named in the online wave was fired or that every outcome had the same cause.
Was the post attributed to Professor Louise Kelly real?
No. California Lutheran University and professor Louise Kelly said that a viral image attributed to Kelly was fake or doctored. The university said it was in communication with local authorities. The alleged wording should not be repeated as Kelly’s statement: the attribution was disputed as fabricated by both the professor and the university.
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That case illustrates why a screenshot’s circulation is not proof of authorship. It also differs materially from the Bellarmine case, where Inside Higher Ed reported James’s account of his own post and the university’s decision to fire him. Treating both allegations as equally established would erase an important factual distinction.
Why did Tenacious D cancel its tour?
Tenacious D guitarist Kyle Gass made a separate onstage joke in Sydney: “Don’t miss Trump next time.” Axios reported that Gass apologized, calling the improvised line “highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake.” Jack Black said he would not condone hate speech or encourage political violence, and announced that the tour would end and future creative plans were on hold.
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That was a band decision following Gass’s stage remark. The cited Axios account does not say that Libs of TikTok caused the decision, so the Tenacious D episode should not be folded into the account’s employer-tagging campaign.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did people interpret the jokes?
The Washington Post’s coverage captured a tension between humor as a response to shock and the gravity of the attack. Ben Collins, CEO of the Onion, said, “Jokes get us through these moments because otherwise that helplessness can turn into rage.” University of Chicago professor William Howell, who studies U.S. presidential politics, said he worried that a significant portion of the public might be so disaffected that an assassination attempt elicited “a sense of the absurd.” Author Percival Everett argued against making light of the event: “An innocent person died that day. He will not see or be seen by his family again. Absurd as it is, it is no joke.”
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These are competing interpretations, not evidence that every joke carried the same intent. The reporting supports distinguishing a joke or expression of approval from an explicit call for violence, and evaluating the wording and context of each post rather than assuming all examples were equivalent.
What the reporting establishes—and what it does not
- Established in contemporaneous reporting: Libs of TikTok publicized comments about the shooting and contacted employers; a Home Depot worker featured in the coverage no longer worked there; Inside Higher Ed reported that Bellarmine fired John James after his reported post.
- Disputed or unverified: Raichik’s total of ten firings was her claim, not an independently audited count in Gizmodo’s account. The image attributed to Louise Kelly was identified as fake or doctored by Kelly and California Lutheran University.
- A separate event: Gass’s stage joke was followed by an apology and Black’s announcement that the tour would end and future plans were on hold. The cited report does not connect that choice to Libs of TikTok.
The most accurate account is therefore neither that every viral allegation was true nor that workplace consequences were merely rumored. Specific cases had different evidentiary footing, and the distinction between a verified comment, a false attribution, an employer’s action and an activist account’s claim matters.
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