Hoping to stave off a nationwide backlash, Office Depot has fired a worker at one of its Michigan locations after a video went viral showing office staff refusing to print posters for a vigil honoring slain conservative free speech activist Charlie Kirk.
Members of the Kalamazoo County Republican Party submitted the printing order at Store 3382 in Portage, just outside Kalamazoo. But despite providing a prepaid receipt, their request was denied.
Michigan attorney and GOP activist Matthew S. DePerno posted the footage on X. The video shows a worker, who identified herself as being “with management,” dismissing the posters as “propaganda.”
“It’s not propaganda. It’s a prayer vigil for someone that passed away,” a woman can be heard saying.
“What makes it propaganda?” another voice asked.
“Because he’s a political figure and I don’t have to—” the worker replied before cutting off, then looking to a man introduced as the print supervisor.
The company has since confirmed the employee was fired, releasing a statement that the “behavior displayed by our associate is completely unacceptable and insensitive, violates our company policies, and does not reflect the values we uphold at Office Depot.”
The video struck a nerve. With more than four million views on X, many Americans voiced outrage, with some calling for a nationwide boycott of the office supply chain. Office Depot, which operates 845 stores across 44 states and the District of Columbia, moved quickly to distance itself from the incident.
DePerno highlighted how the matter was resolved: “We went to @Fedex. They apologized and printing the poster for free. Thank you!”
What this incident reveals goes far beyond one employee’s poor judgment. It underscores the hostility conservatives too often face in supposedly neutral spaces—where honoring a man murdered for his beliefs can be smeared as “propaganda.” For many, it was a chilling reminder of how deeply partisan bias has seeped into everyday commerce.
At a time when corporate America is quick to virtue-signal for every progressive cause, the refusal to show basic respect to grieving conservatives struck many as proof of a double standard. It wasn’t about printing posters—it was about whether freedom of expression and equal treatment still matter when the cause is conservative.
The swiftness of Office Depot’s firing shows the power of public accountability. But the larger question remains: how many Americans quietly face this kind of discrimination when the cameras aren’t rolling?
The fact that the upper levels of this company took decisive action in this case is laudable. But one has to wonder how many other similar employees are still in the ranks, do corporate policies allow – or possibly even encourage -such divisive behavior and will appropriate sanctions happen in the future.