‘The world is better off’: Professors fired over posts defending Charlie Kirk’s murder
College professors and other university employees nationwide are facing backlash for controversial social media posts responding to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Sept. 10 while speaking at an event for his organization at Utah Valley University. He is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children.
Since his death, multiple higher education employees have shared posts appearing to celebrate or justify his killing. Screenshots of the posts spread widely on social media and drew condemnation from Republican lawmakers and conservative groups demanding accountability.
At the University of Mississippi, an administrator was fired after sharing a message that described Kirk as a “yt supremacist and reimagined Klan member.”
PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS FACE BACKLASH FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS MOCKING CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION
According to the Mississippi Free Press, Lauren Stokes, former executive assistant to the vice chancellor, reposted the message. The post also rejected sympathy for Kirk, saying he had “incited and clapped for the brutalizing of Black and Brown bodies.”
Ole Miss Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce later announced an employee had been terminated.
“The comments run completely counter to our institutional values of civility, fairness and respecting the dignity of each person,” Boyce wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. “We condemn these actions and this staff member is no longer employed by the university.”
The university and Stokes did not return Fox News Digital‘s requests for comment.
YEARS OF CAMPUS ATTACKS ON CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS RESURFACE AFTER CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER
A respiratory therapist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center also drew scrutiny after screenshots showed him posting, “He deserves an unnamed ditch in the middle of nowhere. Maybe the waste of oxygen will be worth something to the vultures.”
The university medical center said it was reviewing the matter but did not disclose whether any disciplinary action had been taken.
“The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center strongly condemns all forms of violence and remains committed to providing world-class care to every person, every time,” it said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The employee, Stephen Byrom, did not respond to a request for comment.
At the University of South Dakota, School of Fine Arts professor Michael Hook faced termination after posting a profanity-laced message calling Kirk a “hate-spreading Nazi.” The state Board of Regents announced its intent to fire him, citing unprofessional conduct. His faculty page has since been removed.
LIBERAL PROFESSORS’ GROUP BACKS FACULTY SPEECH AFTER CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION, SILENT ON CONDEMNING ATTACK
The move followed calls from South Dakota House Speaker Jon Hansen and Gov. Larry Rhoden, both of whom shared screenshots of the post. Hook did not return a request for comment.
In Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State University fired assistant dean Laura Sosh-Lightsy after she posted, “Looks like ol’ Charlie spoke his fate into existence. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.”
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee announced in a Sept. 10 statement that she had been terminated immediately, calling her remarks “inappropriate and callous.”
The University of Tennessee also confirmed it had begun the termination process for assistant anthropology professor Tamar R. Shirinian, who shared a profanity-laced post reacting to Kirk’s death.
“The world is better off without him in it,” she wrote, according to screenshots shared online. “Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids… like, his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick f— for marrying him so I don’t care about her feelings.”
Republican Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., applauded the move. Shirinian did not respond to a request for comment.
At the University of Pennsylvania, climate professor Michael E. Mann deleted several posts mocking Kirk after facing criticism.
In his initial posts, Mann mocked Kirk’s murder as “white on white violence” and retweeted posts criticizing those lauding Kirk after his murder. One repost referred to Kirk as “the head of Trump’s Hitler Youth.”
Mann later said he opposed political violence and acknowledged that the language in some of the posts was inappropriate.
“I do NOT approve of the inappropriate & inflammatory language used to describe Kirk (which I’d overlooked). Have deleted,” Mann wrote on X.
In another post, he added, “Political violence is completely unacceptable no matter what ‘side’ it is on. I hope we can all agree with that.”
‘FEARLESS’ TOUR TAKES CHARLIE KIRK’S FREE SPEECH MISSION TO COLLEGES NATIONWIDE
UPenn did not return a request for comment.
Other institutions, including Austin Peay State University in Tennessee and Clemson University in South Carolina, also announced firings of faculty members over posts deemed insensitive or celebratory of Kirk’s murder.
Several public school teachers have also faced suspensions or terminations in recent days for similar remarks.
The wave of firings comes amid broader concerns that political violence is becoming increasingly normalized, after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered last December and Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman was killed in a targeted attack in June.
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Grieving mother calls out Democrat for ‘nasty’ comment about her daughter
The mother of murdered Maryland woman Kayla Hamilton is calling out Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who referred to her daughter as a “random dead person” during a debate on a bill named in Hamilton’s honor.
“You just don’t call a victim of a crime, just a random dead person. No victim should be referred to as a random\ dead person,” said Tammy Nobles on “Fox & Friends First.”
“What she said was really nasty, and it came across as racist.”
Crockett, D-Texas, made the comments earlier this month during a House Judiciary Committee debate on the Kayla Hamilton Act.
JASMINE CROCKETT LIKENS ICE TO ‘SLAVE PATROLS,’ DOWNPLAYS MIGRANT CRIME
Hamilton was 20 years old when she was sexually assaulted and strangled in 2022 by a teenager from El Salvador who was in the country illegally and later identified as an MS-13 member.
“You take a situation, and then you exploit what has happened to not only that person, but you exploit those families, and you make it a game,” said Crockett during the hearing.
“Stop just throwing a random dead person’s name on something for your own political expediency.”
MOM OF MS-13 MURDER VICTIM CONFRONTS DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER’S ‘TRAP’ QUESTION AT SENATE BORDER HEARING
Before making the remark, Crockett argued that Republicans were ignoring victims of other crimes, including those connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
Nobles said she was “furious” when she heard Crockett’s comments about her daughter, remembering Kayla as a “happy and energetic child.”
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler, who worked on the case, also condemned Crockett’s remarks on “Fox & Friends First.”
“Kayla was important. Her life mattered. And for Congresswoman Crockett to be so dismissive, so insensitive to a crime victim, any crime victim, it just speaks to the character of who we’re electing from some jurisdictions around this country,” he said.
“‘Pathetic’ is the best word I have for it.”
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The Kayla Hamilton Act would close “dangerous loopholes” in the federal government’s handling of unaccompanied migrant children, according to Republican Rep. Russell Fry, who introduced the act.
The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct additional screenings of illegal immigrants.
HHS would have to check for gang tattoos, conduct background searches in a migrant’s country of origin, and vet potential sponsors.
Nobles has endorsed the bill, saying it could prevent future tragedies. She said the bill would protect both American citizens and migrant children from gang activity or from being placed with unfit caregivers.
“It’s very important to protect the children.”
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Sophie Cunningham confronts policewoman in tense moment with Caitlin Clark
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham had an up-close discussion with a policewoman during the team’s playoff win against the Atlanta Dream Thursday night in Atlanta.
With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Dream leading by six, a player sustained an injury, prompting an injury timeout. During that timeout, Cunningham walked to center court with WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark following closely behind her.
There, an Atlanta policewoman met them and appeared to tell them to back up with a gesture. Cunningham did not back up until after exchanging words with the policewoman.
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Cunningham later reshared a photo of the encounter with the policewoman on social media with the caption, “THIS IS SOME AURA.”
Even with Cunningham and Clark out for the year, the Fever won the game and series to advance in the WNBA playoffs. The team will face the Las Vegas Aces in the next round.
CAITLIN CLARK, FORMER FEVER TEAMMATE DEWANNA BONNER HAVE FIERY EXCHANGE DURING GAME
But the Fever will have to press on in their playoff quest without their two biggest stars in Cunningham and Clark because they are not coming back this season.
Still, the cameras are likely to be on the two sidelined stars often so long as the team is still playing.
Cunningham and Clark have been a frequent focus of broadcast cameras and media attention throughout the team’s playoff run while they remained sidelined due to injury.
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During Game 2 against the Dream earlier this week, Clark and Cunningham went viral after making a demonstrative gesture to officials, protesting that a Dream player should be called for traveling.
Later in the game, when officials did call traveling on Atlanta, Clark was seen imitating the gesture again, playfully.
Harris says Biden made her ‘angry’ before she stepped on the debate stage with Trump
Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed in her upcoming book, “107 Days,” that then-President Joe Biden rattled her right before she went head-to-head with then-candidate Donald Trump on the debate stage.
Biden reportedly called Harris as she sat in a hotel room preparing for the only debate of her abbreviated campaign. He apparently wanted to wish her luck — and to scold her.
The then-president said, “My brother called. He’s been talking to a group of real power brokers in Philly,” according to an excerpt of the book in The Guardian. He then allegedly asked if Harris was familiar with several people related to the matter, which she was not.
KAMALA HARRIS COMPLAINS ABOUT ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ LACK OF SUPPORT FROM BIDEN’S COMMS TEAM, INNER CIRCLE
“His brother had told him that those guys were not going to support me because I’d been saying bad things about him. He wasn’t inclined to believe it, he claimed, but he thought I should know in case my team had been encouraging me to put daylight between the two of us,” Harris wrote in the book, according to an excerpt of the book in The Guardian.
Biden then went on to talk about his past debate performances, leaving Harris confused, “angry and disappointed,” according to The Guardian. She was upset that her boss had called before a critical moment in her political career and made “it all about himself.” Harris added that Biden was “distracting me with worry about hostile power-brokers in the biggest city of the most important state.”
Then-second gentleman Doug Emhoff apparently noticed his wife was in distress and advised her to “let it go” before facing off against Trump.
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While Harris avoided criticizing Biden during her campaign, she has used her upcoming book to shed light on the tensions between them as she took his place as the Democratic presidential nominee. Harris’ book is set to hit shelves on Sept. 23, but it has already sparked conversations about the 2024 election cycle.
In another section, Harris said while “it’s Joe and Jill’s decision” became a mantra ahead of the 2024 election cycle, she said it was “recklessness,” rather than “grace,” according to an excerpt released by The Atlantic.
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“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,” Harris wrote.
Harris also revealed in her book that then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was her “first choice” as running mate, not Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. However, she said it was “too big of a risk” because the campaign was “already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man.”
Online ‘gore’ communities emerging as dangerous gateway to violence, expert says
Authorities are examining the online activity of the 22-year-old suspect charged in the fatal shooting of conservative speaker Charlie Kirk, as experts warn that digital subcultures are increasingly fueling acts of violence.
A Calculated Attack
In a crime that shocked the nation, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is accused of carrying out what investigators describe as a carefully planned assassination. Unlike most mass shooters who expect to die during their attacks, an expert tells Fox News Digital that Robinson devised escape routes and left behind a detailed digital trail.
“This one is incredibly interesting because of how long he says, through the text that has been disclosed, he had been planning this and for how long it seems like he laid in wait,” said George Brauchler, a prosecutor who has handled some of the nation’s most high-profile mass shootings.
“Most of them have no plans to escape. They have plans to die right there, either by their hand or the good guys who stop them. But this is someone who planned to get away with this. He’s different in a way.”
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Investigators are still piecing together Robinson’s motives.
“He grew up, it looks like, in a decent home, surrounded by an intact family, all the markers that you want for youth,” Brauchler said. “And somehow brought himself to a place where he was willing to shoot and kill another human being in cold blood. That’s a heck of a decision.”
Columbine’s Enduring Shadow
From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings often carry echoes of past tragedies. Brauchler notes that Columbine remains a dark touchstone for copycats.
“In every case I’ve handled — Aurora, STEM, even two 16-year-old girls who idolized the Columbine shooters — it shows up,” he said. “Columbine just has a certain mystique and mythology to it that people can look back on and say, I want to be like them. Or in the Aurora Theater case, I want to be better than them. I want to create more victims than them,” he continued.
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What has changed since 1999 is the digital landscape, Brauchler said, noting that online forums amplify manifestos, glorify killers, and celebrate body counts like video game scores. After Kirk’s murder, graphic crime scene images spread within minutes — a chilling reminder of cultural desensitization.
“What’s different now is the real-time exposure. Kids see killings and violence on social media instantly, up close. That kind of desensitization didn’t exist during Columbine or Aurora,” Brauchler said.
From Online Fantasy to Real-World Murder
The troubling details of this incident, and others like it, fit a pattern recently identified by the ADL Center on Extremism. Analysts at the organization have observed similar trends in at least four school shootings carried out by minors over the past year.
“We need to figure out what they’re watching, what they’re exposing themselves to — because it’s clearly driving some of these kids to believe this kind of horror is normal,” Brauchler warned.
On Sept. 10, 2025, a 16-year-old named Desmond Holly carried out a shooting at Evergreen High School, injuring two classmates before taking his own life. At a press briefing the following day, a spokesperson from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office stated that Holly had been “radicalized by some extremist network,” though declined to go into further detail, the organization reported.
According to research by the ADL, the shooter had spent a significant amount of time in online environments that promote violent and extremist ideologies. Investigators found that he ultimately adopted these beliefs himself.
The shooter maintained an account on a graphic content forum called WatchPeopleDie, where he had interacted with posts discussing mass shootings in Parkland (2018), Buffalo (2022), and a 2017 attack at a mosque in Quebec City, according to the report.
Records obtained by the organization suggest the shooter joined the platform on Dec. 26, 2024 – falling between two other school shootings: one at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, and another at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee.
But this shooter isn’t the only attacker tied to this online space. In a report published in Aug. 2025, the ADL revealed that Natalie Rupnow and Solomon Henderson, the individuals behind the Madison and Nashville shootings, were also users of the site. That same month, a teenager in Morocco posted a manifesto and announced plans for a mass stabbing on WatchPeopleDie, as well as on X and 8kun.
The ADL’s findings show that the platform frequently hosts white supremacist, antisemitic, and other extremist material. Users, including minors, are exposed to highly graphic violence that is often celebrated by the community, which may lead to desensitization and a heightened risk of radicalization and ideologically driven violence, the organization noted.
Still, confronting these spaces poses constitutional challenges. “I’m not ready to trade the First Amendment for an extra layer of security,” Brauchler said. “But we have to invest in law enforcement and digital forensics. These sites are out there, and they’re dangerous.”
FAMILY TURNS IN SUSPECT IN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION, ‘ALMOST UNHEARD OF’: BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST
“I want every level of government to be curious about the motives of anyone that engages in this kind of homicidal behavior,” he continued. “One, to find out what it is that may have triggered them or what fascinated them and what they had a passion for.”
Brauchler added that while the FBI reportedly had early warnings about the Evergreen school shooter, the sheer volume of online threats makes timely intervention nearly impossible.
The Path Forward
Brauchler says prevention begins with vigilance.
“See something, say something, if it gives you concern,” Brauchler emphasized, recalling how tips thwarted two teenagers plotting an attack at Mountain Vista High School. “That’s how this thing got disrupted before they were able to pull it off. It was a nosy mom and an anonymous student tip.”
He also advocates for armed school resource officers in every building.
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“Mass shooters are cowards, Brauchler said bluntly. “They plan from the standpoint of two beliefs. One, that they will have the upper hand because of surprise, and two, they will have the upper hand because they will be the only guns in the school. It’s not 100% guarantee, but they tend not to act when they see a uniformed officer.”
Still, he acknowledged that no system can guarantee safety.
“Evil exists,” he said. “But when communities remain alert and law enforcement has the tools to monitor threats, tragedies can be prevented.”
Incident report released following Universal Orlando rollercoaster fatality
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office released more details on Friday in its investigation into the death of a rollercoaster rider at Universal Epic Universe on Wednesday, sharing a partially redacted incident report and two audio files.
The sheriff’s office identified the man who died after riding Stardust Racers at the Orlando theme park as 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala.
The county medical examiner said Zavala died from “multiple blunt force injuries” and ruled his death accidental, according to FOX 35 Orlando, but his exact injuries were not released.
The incident report showed that an Orange County deputy responded to a medical emergency at the theme park at around 9:20 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
MAN DIES AFTER BECOMING UNRESPONSIVE ON ONE OF UNIVERSAL’S NEWEST RIDES
The deputy reported that he saw people with Orange County Fire Rescue (OCFR) and Universal Orlando Health Services performing CPR on a man, later identified as Zavala, who was on “the platform directly parallel to the ride tracks” for Stardust Racers.
A non-emergency call from OCFR released with the incident report noted that Zavala had a laceration and was unresponsive and not breathing. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and was pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m., according to the report.
Zavala’s girlfriend of 10 years was at the theme park with him and was described by the deputy as “visibly shaken.”
She said she was having panic attacks and was unable to write a statement herself, but told law enforcement that Zavala, who used a wheelchair, had a spinal injury and “was taking [redacted] medication,” according to the report.
She was also taken to the hospital by a deputy to be “attended to.”
The sheriff’s office stated that it did not receive any 911 calls for this incident, likely because theme parks do not allow patrons to take their phones – or other loose items – on certain rides.
The only available audio is radio traffic for a self-initiated call by a deputy and the call from OCFR – neither of which provide much detail into what took place.
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Stardust Racers is a dual-launch rollercoaster that reaches speeds “up to 62 mph” and climbs “heights up to 133 feet along 5,000 feet of track,” according to the attraction’s website. It is located in the Celestial Park portion of the theme park, which officially opened on May 22, 2025.
Guests must be at least 48 inches tall to ride and warning signs are “found at the entrance of each attraction to help determine the attractions that are suitable for guests based on their abilities,” according to the Universal Orlando Resort’s Guide for Safety and Accessibility, which was last updated in April.
Depending on the ride, warnings listed are for guests with a history of heart conditions, abnormal blood pressure, expectant mothers and other health conditions.
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An inspector with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was at Epic Universe on Friday to investigate what caused Zavala’s death, according to FOX 35.
The sheriff’s office said while it understands that there is a lot of interest in this case, additional information will likely not be released while the investigation is active.
McConaughey’s bedroom secret that helped his marriage to Camila Alves
Don’t sleep on Matthew McConaughey’s biggest relationship secret.
The Academy Award-winning actor, who has been married to wife Camila Alves for 13 years, has a simple recipe for maintaining a healthy marriage.
McConaughey, 55, put pen to paper and offered a few of his life lessons in his new book, “Poems & Prayers.” He told Fox News Digital that one small change in his household helped him further connect with the lady in his life.
In an excerpt from his new book, McConaughey encouraged couples to downsize their mattress to “get ahead.”
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“The best thing you can / do for your / marriage,” he penned. “One way to surely / get ahead, / is get rid of that / king-size mattress, / and sleep in a / queen-size bed.”
McConaughey delved into the reason why a smaller bed could provide a more fruitful connection.
WATCH: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY REVEALS MARRIAGE SUCCESS SECRET
“We have kids and we go to our friend’s house and he has one of these double king-size beds put together and all the kids sleep in the bed,” McConaughey told Fox News Digital. “The wife’s on one side with her side table and the husband’s on the other side and it’s great when you got all three kids, but all of a sudden the kids get too big. They’re out of the bed.”
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY’S BLUNT ADVICE TO TEENAGE SON AS HE BEGINS ACTING CAREER
“I wake up one morning … I’m looking over there and Camilla’s like a football field away man. Then you go to bed at night, like you want to snuggle up and … ‘Well, we’ve got to cover you up. Come about 12 feet and I’ll come 12 feet.'”
He added, “You’re like, man, this damn king-size bed is not good for the marriage, man. Get rid of that son of a b—-. So we got a queen size where we’re shoulder to shoulder. I’m telling you, it’s good for your marriage.”
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“We got a queen size where we’re shoulder to shoulder. I’m telling you, it’s good for your marriage.”
The “Dazed and Confused” actor noted that there’s “no room” for any kids in the bed.
Themes throughout McConaughey’s latest written work include love stories, faith, doubt, compassion and forgiveness. “Poems & Prayers” features writings inspired by both proverbs and the Old Testament, in addition to intentions and words of affirmation.
Maintaining healthy family relationships not only as a father to three children, but also as a partner to Camilla, is important to McConaughey.
When McConaughey and Camila married in 2012, the family moved from California to Texas. The couple share three children: Levi, Vida and Livingston.
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“You’ve got kids, so you don’t … you’re spending as much time being a good mother and father of them, but you also gotta make sure – and I can do a better job of this – of going, ‘No, this is our time.’ You can’t 100% live with the kids as a parent,” McConaughey said.
WATCH: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY PRIORITIZES HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CAMILLA ALVES
“You gotta make to remember that one of the best examples you can give the kids of how to treat a woman or a man or how to someone they end up falling in love with down the line is how you treat their mother and how the mother treats the father.”
Alves and McConaughey are so committed to finding time for each other that they launched their own alcohol brand in 2023, Pantalones Organic Tequila. They regularly star in cheeky campaign ads for the company, which offers three varieties of tequila.
“You gotta make to remember that one of the best examples you can give the kids of how to treat a woman or a man or how to someone they end up falling in love with down the line is how you treat their mother and how the mother treats the father.”
“We enjoy ourselves,” McConaughey said. “You know, like the tequila, we put damn good juice in a bottle. We were formal. We were buttoned up on that. As soon as we got good juice and a bottle, he said, pants off.”
“Let’s have a good time with the ads.”
“Poems & Prayers” is available now.
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Trump administration orders Chicago schools to end Black student plan, trans guidelines
The Trump administration is pushing Chicago Public Schools to abolish its “Black Student Success Plan” and guidelines allowing transgender students to participate in sports and use bathroom facilities that are consistent with the gender with which they identify.
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted on X that the department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a letter to Chicago Public Schools saying that the district violated anti-discrimination laws through its “exclusionary Black Student Success Plan,” which they noted solely serves Black students.
Chicago Public Schools’ five-year Magnet School Assistance Program, which according to ChalkBeat received $15 million in grants last year, could lose that funding.
The Magnet School Assistance Program is statutorily obligated to promote desegregation in order to “increase interaction among students of different social, economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.” The letter states that “prior to grant disbursement, OCR’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights must sign an assurance that the applicant will ‘not engage in discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability.'”
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The Trump administration pressed Chicago Public Schools further to end its “Guidelines Regarding the Support of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students,” which they called “facially discriminatory” on the basis of sex. Chicago Public Schools was ordered to adopt biology-based definitions for the words “male” and “female” to align with federal statutes.
“It says nothing about the feelings of safety and inclusivity of the female students who are forced to play against males,” the letter added.
“As a result of these findings, I will not certify CPS’ grant under 20 U.S.C. § 7231d(c). Likewise, CPS’ MSAP grant will be non-continued under 34 C.F.R. § 75.253(a)(5) because it is no longer in the best interest of the Federal Government,” the letter stated.
CPS was ordered to comply with a list of demands from the Trump administration in order for its grant to be certified.
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The Department of Education called out other Magnet Schools in New York City and Fairfax Public Schools (Va.) for allegedly disobeying federal law.
“Protecting students’ civil rights is non-negotiable. @USEdGov will not certify that Magnet Schools in New York City, Chicago, & Fairfax Public Schools are following the law when they are clearly not,” McMahon posted on X.
The letter came after the OCR launched an investigation in Chicago Public Schools’ support of transgender students that aligns with Illinois statutes and the district’s Black Student Success Plan in the spring.
“They have 3 days to come into compliance. The clock is ticking,” she added.
Chicago Public Schools officials told Fox News Digital that they do “not comment on ongoing investigations.”
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Costco’s ‘dangerous’ pound cake returns after vanishing act, sparks buying frenzy
A favorite Costco bakery item has made a triumphant return after years of on-and-off appearances, and fans are once again rushing to grab it before it disappears.
The Kirkland Signature Butter Cinnamon Sugar Loaf, first spotted as early as 2017, has developed a reputation for vanishing from shelves for long stretches, leaving customers to wonder if it was discontinued or simply seasonal.
Shoppers last reported seeing it in 2023, before it disappeared once more. One desperate fan even turned to Reddit for a copycat recipe after a Costco baker allegedly claimed the loaf was gone for good.
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But since June, the sweet treat has reappeared both in warehouses and on Costco’s website. A Costco employee told Fox News Digital it is indeed seasonal, though availability varies by store.
The Butter Cinnamon Sugar Loaf is an all-butter pound cake featuring thick cinnamon swirls and a generous coating of cinnamon sugar.
At $9.99 for a 38-ounce loaf, customers call the item a steal, especially considering how much butter goes into it.
One Redditor who claimed to work at Costco said nearly a full stick of butter is baked into each loaf. Another woman on Instagram said the loaf is rolled around in melted butter to get the coating to stick.
“That Butter Cinnamon Sugar Loaf has me drooling!”
One serving of the loaf packs 410 calories and 33 grams of sugar, according to Costco’s website, but that hasn’t stopped fans from raving about it.
On Reddit, shoppers called it the “best loaf cake ever to grace my taste buds” and compared it to “a Sara Lee pound cake with churro dusting.”
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“I saw these the other day and intentionally turned away,” another Reddit user said, adding, “Kryptonite.”
Customers shared similar praise on Instagram and TikTok. “That Butter Cinnamon Sugar Loaf has me drooling!” one woman commented on a post from the popular social media account Discovering Costco.
“That would be gone in no time at my house,” the woman added.
Another described it as “addictive, dangerous and so darn good.”
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In a comment on an Instagram video posted by Costco Hot Finds, someone said the dessert is like a cinnamon cake doughnut.
Some people shared creative hacks for the loaf.
“These are amazing, and they freeze really well to save one for later,” one Instagram user said.
Laura Lamb, creator of Costco Hot Finds, suggested making French toast with it. “It’s absolutely incredible,” Lamb said in the video. “I’ve made French toast with this several times, and it’s a huge win.”
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Someone else recommended putting it in the air fryer for a minute or two.
“Make it permanent!” another person urged the big-box retailer.
While the loaf’s price has fluctuated in the past, it has recently held steady at $9.99, roughly the same price by weight as the three-loaf pack in which it previously came.
Costco loyalists claim it ranks up there with other seasonal cult favorites, including the nearly 4-pound pumpkin cheesecake and the summertime peaches and cream bar cake.
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Like those fleeting hits, the Butter Cinnamon Sugar Loaf is inspiring fans to stock up before it disappears again.
Fox News Digital reached out to Costco for comment.