A Pennsylvania wine and spirits importer has suspended an employee over a cartoon depicting Charlie Kirk as the burning Twin Towers.
The image spread this week as the anniversaries of Kirk’s assassination and the September 11 attacks fell back to back.
Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025 — one day before the anniversary of 9/11.
The Cartoon
David Escobar-Martin, who lists himself as an account manager at Vintage Imports, posted the image as a comment on Facebook days ahead of the anniversaries.
The black-and-white cartoon draws Kirk’s face onto the two World Trade Center towers as they burn and collapse.
The comment drew only a handful of reactions before it was screenshotted and posted to X.
How It Spread
X user Nick Jacobs shared the screenshot on September 9 alongside the employee’s LinkedIn page, writing that Escobar-Martin thought it was funny to mock both Kirk’s assassination and 9/11 during the week of the two anniversaries, and tagging Vintage Imports in the post.
The post has passed 1 million views.
A follow-up post from another account claiming the employee is being fired has passed 20,000 likes. That claim is unconfirmed — the company’s official word is a suspension.
The Company’s Statement
Vintage Imports posted a statement Thursday saying the post came from a personal account, but that the employee identified his position with the company in his profile.
“We unequivocally condemn the content of this post,” the statement reads, adding that it does not represent the company, its values, its employees, its suppliers, or its customers.
The company apologized to anyone hurt, angered, or insulted by the post and said the matter was immediately referred to Human Resources.
“The employee has been suspended pending further review,” the statement continues, with the situation being handled under the company’s internal policies.
The statement does not name the employee. Vintage Imports is a wine and spirits importer and distributor that has operated for more than four decades.
More Than 600 Cases
The suspension lands a year into a wave that has not stopped. A Reuters investigation counted more than 600 people fired, suspended, or investigated over their statements about Kirk’s death.
Last September, the same cycle hit entertainment within days, including Sucker Punch firing a Ghost of Yotei artist over her comments.
It also comes the same week Netflix’s “neck injury” post set off new calls to cancel the streamer.
Escobar-Martin remains suspended as the company completes its review.
