Arizona Teachers Under Fire, Accused of Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death for Halloween

Original article here

An Arizona school district is under fire after images circulated online, showing 8 math teachers wearing blood-soaked t-shirts with the words “Problem Solved” emblazoned across the front for Halloween costumes.

The teachers at Cienega High School in Vail, Arizona were photographed last week wearing shirts that appear to be stained by blood on the same side of Charlie Kirk’s fatal wound from when the conservative activist was assassinated in Orem, Utah on September 10.

Vail Unified School District Superintendent John Carruth issued a statement, claiming that the shirts were merely a reference to “solving math problems” and claimed that staff members wore the same shirts last Halloween.

Carruth said, “These shirts were worn both this and last year as part of math-themed Halloween costumes and were not intended as a reference to any person, event, or political issue.”

John Carruth from Vail School District has already put out a statement. He confirms the image is from Cienaga High School’s math department wearing blood-stained shirts (with blood only on the left side, the side where CK was shot) as a reference to “solving math problems.”… https://t.co/pXjYiqofep pic.twitter.com/eNJaLpeugY

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) November 1, 2025

The superintendent’s claim that the shirts were worn last year has brought accusations of tone deafness for the bloody shirts following 2 high profile attempts last year on the life of presidential candidate Donald Trump as well as the optics of wearing such a shirt just weeks after Kirk’s murder.

That claim from the superintendent has since been deleted from social media and now Carruth is facing accusations of gaslighting after an image surfaced from last year of the school’s math department dressed as old people.

That image has now apparently been deleted as well though the school district has offered no explanation as to why.

Someone managed to get a screenshot of last years outfits clearly showing them dressed as elderly people and not in fact wearing the same shirts two years in a row. Also @vailschools deleted their statement pic.twitter.com/kMy6TpXLhh

— Christopher Tosi (@86daysinkruger) November 1, 2025

State Representative Rachel Keshel is demanding evidence that the math department wore the bloody t-shirts  last year and has stated that her daughter graduated from Cienega High School last year and does not recall the math teachers wearing those shirts.

Keshel issued a statement saying, “In a state like Arizona, where we champion free speech but hold sacred the principles of civility and safety, this crosses every line. It’s particularly alarming in a school setting, where children look to their teachers as role models, not as endorsers of extremism.”

She also called upon Superintendent Carruth to “take immediate and decisive action: terminate the employment of every individual involved in creating, wearing, or permitting these abhorrent costumes. Anything less sends a dangerous message that hate has a home in our classrooms.”