Math teachers at Cienega High School in southern Arizona are facing death threats and calls that they be fired after a Turning Point USA employee falsely accused them of wearing Halloween costumes mocking the assassination of the organization’s co-founder, Charlie Kirk.

Over the weekend, prominent local and national Republicans amplified a group photo of the teachers in their costumes — white T-shirts, splashed with fake blood, and the words “problem solved” printed on the chest.

Andrew Kolvet, a Turning Point USA spokesman and executive producer of the Charlie Kirk Show, a popular right-wing podcast, drew attention to the photo early Saturday morning.

“Concerned parents just sent us this image of what’s believed to be teachers in @vailschools in Tucson, Arizona mocking Charlie Kirk’s murder with costumes,” Kolvet wrote on X.

Concerned parents just sent us this image of what’s believed to be teachers in @vailschools in Tuscon, Arizona mocking Charlie’s murder with costumes that read “Problem Solved” and blood down the left side of their shirts.

They deserve to be famous, and fired. pic.twitter.com/bs95p2lkU0

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) November 1, 2025

“They deserve to be famous, and fired,” he added.

According to Vail School District Superintendent John Carruth, claims that the costumes mocked Kirk’s death were untrue. The shirts, Carruth explained, were a joke about solving math problems — worn to school both this year and for Halloween in 2024.

“We want to clarify that these shirts were part of a math-themed Halloween costume meant to represent solving tough math problems,” Carruth wrote in an email to families with children in district schools. “The shirts were never intended to target any person, event, or political issue.”

Still, Carruth issued an apology and said the shirts won’t be worn again.

Cienega High School Principal Kim Middleton told district families on Monday that the school had an “increased law enforcement presence” due to the “aggressive nature of online comments.” District officials provided examples of the thousands of threats and comments they’ve received regarding the teachers and school online. Some had posted the names, personal contact information and home addresses of teachers.

“Keep blocking us, we’re coming for you. Literally driving to Tucson as we speak. You f-cking wait,” someone messaged the district on Facebook.

“Your teachers need to be school shooting victims. Sign them up. Time to make them actually look like this. Bang. May people sh-t on their graves for the next eternity,” another person wrote.

How the rumor spread across MAGA social media

Kolvet, whose initial post sharing a photo of the math teachers has amassed nearly 10 million views, spent Saturday morning amplifying his initial claim, and shared responses on X from conservatives like pro-Trump social media personality Benny Johnson calling the teachers “sick and evil.”

Kolvet later expressed skepticism about Carruth’s statement about what the costumes actually stood for.

“Who’s buying this explanation?” he wrote about an hour after his first post.

Later Saturday, Kolvet did acknowledge the fact that math teachers in the Vail School District had worn the exact same costume in 2024, nearly a year before Kirk was fatally shot in September at a Turning Point USA event in Utah.

But he also alleged that the math teachers — at least some of them — were likely guilty of his false accusation.

“I do not believe for a second that all of them are innocent… School teachers have been among the worst offenders of mocking and celebrating Charlie’s assassination,” Kolvet wrote. “I have my theories as to why, but at this point they should not be surprised that parents and the community are on high alert.”

By then, the damage from Kolvet’s accusation had already reached a national audience.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote that “it’s been really disturbing to see teachers across the country glorifying a murder just because they disagreed with the victim.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote that he drew a connection between the math teachers and Kirk because Kirk was wearing a white T-shirt when he was killed.

“Their ‘we wore these last year too’ defense — even if it’s true — doesn’t help them much,” Lee wrote on X.

Locally, lawmakers like state Rep. Rachel Keshel (R-Tucson), quickly issued calls for the teachers to be fired.

“I am calling on Superintendent John Carruth to take immediate and decisive action: terminate the employment of every individual involved in creating, wearing, or permitting these abhorrent costumes,” Keshel said in a statement shared via a legislative press release Saturday afternoon. “Anything less sends a dangerous message that hate has a home in our classrooms.”

Doubling- and tripling-down

Despite evidence provided to the contrary by Vail district officials, many conservative social media posts, like those on X by DeSantis and Lee, remain online, drawing attention to the teachers and the false narrative perpetuated about their costumes.

Keshel has outright dismissed the evidence and statements shared by school officials, at first claiming that Carruth’s explanation about the math-centric costumes was “BS” and demanding the school provide a picture to prove the same costumes were worn in 2024.

Even after that picture surfaced, Keshel first claimed it was simply another picture taken in 2025, before later claiming it was generated by artificial intelligence.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), a Turning Point USA consultant, did delete a post accusing the teachers of mocking Kirk’s death.

But in a follow-up tweet Sunday morning, he wrote that the evidence offered by the school districts only “potentially” clears the math teachers of wrongdoing.

Later Sunday, Hoffman claimed it should have been obvious to some at the school that some Arizonans would draw a connection between the math teachers’ costumes and Kirk’s assassination.

Hoffman also called for math teachers and the Vail School District superintendent to be fired.

“In the age of school shootings, two attempted assassinations of Donald Trump, the actual assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk, etc it is unfathomable that not one person in the group, campus faculty or administration raised their hand to say ‘Not this year guys’ or ‘Maybe we shouldn’t wear costumes that glorify murder,’” he wrote.

Hoffman, a supporter of private school vouchers, also used the incident as an opportunity to attack the public school system.

“Parents, pull your kids out of these dumpster fires,” he wrote. “They’ll thank you for it when they’re older.”