CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Fire Chief Anthony Luke is on paid leave pending an investigation after he reposted a political cartoon that criticized Charlie Kirk and Republicans, just two days after Kirk was shot and killed in Utah.
Luke’s now-deleted post, which was made on Friday and stayed up until Monday night, criticized Republicans and suggested conservatives were responsible for gun deaths. It also included a quote from Kirk defending the Second amendment.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. Tyler James Robinson, 22, of Washington, Utah, has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder and other charges.
The fire chief had reposted a video from Slyngstad Cartoons on Facebook. It shows an elephant, dressed in a white robe and standing beside a giant golden assault rifle atop an altar. On the stairs leading up are seven people shot dead. The elephant shouts to the crowd: “Bring out the next sacrifice!!” Elephants in suits surround the altar, bowing down to the rifle.
Above the cartoon is a direct quote from Kirk: “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, a few gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd amendment.”
Kirk’s quote from 2023 had resurfaced and has been widely used to criticize him after his death.
In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Justin Bibb denounced Luke’s post. He said while he supports free speech, the fire chief’s post “romanticized gun violence” in a city that is often plagued by it. He said a public safety leader is supposed to be a “standard-bearer” for the city.
“Chief Luke’s post crossed the line,” Bibb said. “It was insensitive, it was incendiary, and it did not reflect the values of compassion, unity, and safety that I strive to stand for — and that every public safety leader in this city should embody. We should never glorify violence; we should confront it, heal from it, and work tirelessly to prevent its next occurrence.”
Since Kirk’s death there has been an uproar of politically polarized posts on social media. Some liberal-leaning posters on social media have criticized Kirk or even made light of his death. Some conservatives have blamed liberals saying their rhetoric led to Kirk’s death.
Both Fairview Park City Council President Michael Kilbane and Munroe Falls City Councilman John Impellizzeri have resigned after posts they made about Kirk led to backlash. The fire chief is among a handful of Cleveland employees whose social media posts about Kirk have been under review.
As of Friday, both a firefighter’s and an EMS employee’s posts about Kirk were also being investigated. Both will remain on the job while that investigation plays out, spokesman Jamil Hairston said.
While Luke has deleted the cartoon criticizing Kirk from his Facebook page, he seemed to double down on his comments with a new Facebook post Monday night. He also shared a video from Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit formed to protect children from gun violence.
“Since folks obviously missed this one before here’s a repost,” Luke wrote. “I’m American. I own firearms. I believe the Republican stance and actions on reasonable gun regulations are inhuman and immoral. Why – watch.”
That post was still online as of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bibb appointed Luke, a 32-year department veteran, as fire chief in November 2022.
The mayor appoints the fire chief, who is not part of the firefighters’ union. But Andrew Geronimo, a Case Western Reserve University Law professor who runs the First Amendment Law Clinic, said it’s unlikely the city could fire Luke and have that discipline hold up in court.
“I do think that it is very possible that they would get sued if they were to punish him for reposting a political cartoon,” Geronimo said in an interview before Luke had been placed on paid leave. “And I would guess that they might even be found to have violated the First Amendment for that.”
Geronimo later said it was unlikely that Luke could bring a lawsuit if he were eventually restored to normal duties. But if discipline went further, Geronimo maintained that the city could face a First Amendment lawsuit.
Geronimo said free-speech cases depend heavily on the facts of each case, but government employees generally have protections so long as their speech doesn’t interfere with their jobs.
For example, a police officer or firefighter speaking in uniform would be judged differently than a city accountant posting on social media off the clock. The exception is when an employee regularly deals with the public and their comments suggest bias that could undermine their work — like saying they wouldn’t serve certain people.
Public backlash alone isn’t enough to justify punishment, Geronimo added. Courts reject what’s known as a “Heckler’s Veto,” which means the government can’t silence someone just because others dislike what they say.
Geronimo said that even an at-will employee, who can be fired for nearly any reason, can’t be fired because they exercised their free speech rights.
Cleveland has been through this issue before.
Cleveland police Capt. Johnny Hamm received a 10-day suspension in 2025 for comments he made online about the November 2012 police chase that led officers to fire 137 bullets and kill Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.
Hamm sued the city. And a federal judge ruled that Hamm’s post was constitutionally protected speech.
Luke is one of many people across the country who have faced backlash for their criticism of Kirk after his death. The Associated Press reports that some conservatives have launched a campaign to target those people and have them fired.
Geronimo said this “is like the shoe on the other foot of cancel culture.” Many conservatives had preached the value of free speech when they were being attacked for other matters, Geronimo said, but are now attacking anyone who criticized Kirk.
He said the “people currently calling for blood” wouldn’t find it acceptable if this were happening four years ago, and they were attacked for posting something online.