A teacher in Australia has been stood down after he reportedly dressed up as the murdered far-right activist Charlie Kirk for Halloween.
Adelaide professor Guy Harrison is alleged to have donned a bloody t-shirt with a pretend bullet shot wound for a staff-only Halloween party.
The costume appeared to reference Kirk, the founder of the student conservative society Turning Point, who was shot dead in September while he was speaking at Utah Valley University in the US.
Following the incident, the Urrbrae Agricultural High School confirmed that Harrison, who was their design and technology coordinator, has been placed on leave pending an internal investigation.
Principal Todd George described the outfit as ‘completely unacceptable’ in a message to parents, adding that the teacher had been ‘removed from campus’ while inquiries are carried out.
Students aware of the costume have been offered wellbeing support.
But not everyone in the community thinks the costume is so controversial.
Some parents said the school’s response has been over the top. One mum told 7News there were ‘far worse’ outfits out there and Harrison is a ‘favourite teacher’.
She added: ‘Teachers are just normal people.
‘If no one’s allowed to wear an offensive costume, Halloween would be cancelled. Something is always offensive to someone.
‘Why are we letting a minority — not even in Australia — dictate what’s offensive?’
Another parent, who has a child in Year 8 at the school, said the outfit was misinterpreted.
He said: ‘When someone dresses as a witch, you don’t think of the Salem witch trials.
‘Kirk made a career debating teens and showed no empathy for gun violence victims. The costume was ironic — maybe just not for a staff party.’
Harrison was not the only one to find inspiration for a fancy dress outfit in Kirk.
The president of the Australian South Bunbury Football Club, Nicky Waite, allegedly dressed up like the conservative activist for a party to celebrate the end of the season. The theme for the event was ‘famous dead people.’
A photo posted on social media shows Waite was wearing a MAGA cap and white top that said ‘freedom’ – the same slogan on Kirk’s top when he died – with fake blood coming from her neck. ‘RIP Charlie Kirk’ was typed on the photo. Waite was fined $1,500 by the South West Football League over the outfit, the Daily Mail reported.
She told ABC Sport: ‘I understand my costume may have been interpreted in ways that were not intended, especially when emotions and sensitivities are still quite fresh.’
Earlier this month, maths teachers at an Arizona high school were accused of dressing up as Kirk for Halloween after a photo of them wearing fake blood-soaked tops that read ‘problem solved’ was posted on X. Andrew Kolvet, who produced ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’, posted on the social media platform they were imitating him.
The post went viral and a furore ensued. People sent death threats to the teachers, but they clarified the shirts were just a reference to the difficulty of solving a maths problem, not Kirk, and they had worn the same costume last year.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.