Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck decried “extreme tribalism” after facing criticism for a post she made about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk shortly after news of his shooting broke.
The Democrat’s post, which she deleted after Kirk’s death was confirmed, drove partisan infighting among City Council members and stirred outrage among political activists, including the local GOP.
In a statement to the Fort Worth Report, Beck clarified her stance on Kirk’s death after several Tarrant County Republican officials and activists, including Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, criticized her post with some calling for her removal from office.
“We are now witnessing a symptom of a bigger problem — extreme tribalism,” Beck’s statement read. “As a society, we seek out reasons to be angry at each other, as opposed to starting from a place of commonality. My thoughts on political violence are clear. It cannot and should not be tolerated in this nation.”
Shortly after Kirk was shot in Utah, Beck posted on her personal social media a screenshot of a 2023 Newsweek headline that read, “Charlie Kirk says gun deaths 'unfortunately' worth it to keep 2nd Amendment.” Her post included the word “unfortunate” overlaid on a photo of Kirk.
Beck deleted her post within an hour of Kirk being pronounced dead.
Parker, a Republican, took to social media Thursday afternoon to condemn Beck without naming her, writing that elected officials have a responsibility to encourage “civility, kindness and decency.”
“Yesterday, we saw the worst example of this by one of my fellow council members, essentially condoning violence because of someone's political views,” Parker wrote. “It is very clear that the killing of Charlie Kirk was a political assassination, and there is no justification for evil.”
Kirk, a well-known 31-year-old activist and founder of the youth conservative group Turning Point USA, was shot fatally in the neck Wednesday during a college event in Utah. As of Sept. 11, the shooter was still at large.
Council member Chris Nettles, a Democrat, came to Beck’s defense with a written statement condemning Parker for her criticism of Beck. Nettles described the mayor’s words as a “reckless and dangerous attack” and accused her of mischaracterizing Beck’s post.
“Words like those used today by the mayor don’t unite our city; they further divide it and put lives and families in danger,” Nettles wrote. “Preaching unity while practicing division never goes hand in hand.”
Shortly after Beck deleted the post, Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French accused her in an X post of celebrating Kirk’s death. He described the Democratic Party as a “domestic terrorist organization,” adding that President Donald Trump “must use the full force of the law to crush them.”
“This is beyond acceptable. At a minimum, the Tarrant County Republican Party calls for her to be REMOVED from the City Council immediately,” French wrote. “This absolutely despicable, scum behavior has no place anywhere near elected office.”
— Bo French (@BoFrenchTX) September 10, 2025
“When it comes to anything that Bo French has said, I have no response, because I choose not to fuel the hate machine that he is in our community,” Beck said.
She added that society must have a “serious discussion on how we engage in discourse and what has become acceptable or unacceptable.”
The GOP chairman is no stranger to hot water on social media himself.
In June, French faced backlash from Parker and a slew of other Republican officials, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for asking his X followers whether Jewish or Muslim people pose “a bigger threat to America.” At the time, Parker called for French’s removal from the local Republican party, saying there were “too many examples of (his) bigotry and hate.”
Since then, French has frequently posted on X about the “threat of radical Islam” and targeted Texas House Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Euless Democrat and Pakistan-born Muslim, during his participation in a quorum break over congressional redistricting. Last month, a coalition of Tarrant faith leaders mailed letters to Republican officials, including to Parker, urging them to denounce French’s “hateful rhetoric” toward Bhojani.
At the time, Bhojani told the Report he hired 24/7 security to protect himself, his wife and their two teenage children after being doxxed online and followed by unmarked vehicles because of French’s online attacks.
Council member Michael Crain, a Republican, weighed in on Beck’s post on Facebook, commenting under Parker’s statement that he knows “the darkness and evil which fills (Beck’s) heart.”
“It was a political assassination plain and simple,” Crain wrote. “She can explain away, delete the post, post something to appear it wasn't a circumstance in which she doesn't find joy. But we know the truth and have witnessed the demonic behavior first hand.”
Council member Charlie Lauersdorf, also a Republican, wrote on Facebook that he respects the right to free speech but finds it “truly reprehensible” when elected officials join in on what he described as celebrating, justifying or mocking Kirk’s killing.
A U.S. Marine, Lauersdorf nodded to Beck’s experience serving in the U.S. Army as the discourse played out on the 24th anniversary of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“As a fellow veteran, I know firsthand how easy it can be to let emotions get the better of us in the heat of the moment,” Lauersdorf wrote. “I sincerely hope that is all this was. I am glad she has since condemned the murder, and I hope she truly believes it.”
Politicians across the country, from both sides of the political aisle, lamented political violence following Kirk’s assassination. As they condemned the killing, some Democratic politicians, including U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said the country should respond with action in the form of gun safety legislation.
Trump said he would posthumously honor Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
