Teacher targeted by vicious right-wing hate now hailed for 'saving lives'

In the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination last September, Rudy Giuliani unleashed a flood of X posts calling for the firings of teachers and other workers who shared critical posts about the murdered right-wing activist.

Giuliani, former New York City mayor and President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney disbarred for false statements made about the 2020 election, posted phone numbers for schools where such teachers worked and dedicated an episode of his show “America’s Mayor Live” to “Exposing Every ‘Teacher’ Celebrating the Assassination of Charlie Kirk.”

When Giuliani shared a repost about a suburban Chicago teacher who replied to Facebook comments and posted about Kirk’s assassination, conservative websites wrote about it and right-wing commentators and groups lit up X, celebrating her “packing up” from the middle school where she works.

But Carolyn Pinta, who lives in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and has taught for 27 years, said she didn’t lose her job as a Spanish teacher after the school investigated and is carrying on with her work leading the local Pride parade and LGBTQ+ support nonprofit, the Pinta Pride Project, which her family started in 2018 when her daughter came out as bisexual.

“Since I started this work, I've definitely been the object of some real nastiness from a very tiny sect of the community,” Pinta told Raw Story.

Conservative groups like Moms4Liberty pushed to get Pinta fired after Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. A preliminary hearing for the suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, took place last week.

Moms4Liberty — Lake County shared numerous screenshots of Pinta’s social media posts and comments, along with a letter from “concerned parents” requesting a response from the White House about Pinta’s “inflammatory, anti-Trump and anti-conservative comments on social media.”

The national group republished a local news article which highlighted Pinta’s Facebook post that said, “I DESPISE Charlie Kirk and all he stands for, BUT I believe he has the right to live. It’s the guns…”

Pinta also came under fire for Facebook comments, including one that said, “Listen, the irony is THICK, right? All of Charlie’s quotes floating around because one thing they are saying is true. He did have a massive influence over young people. He believed in the sacrificing of a few souls each year to keep his 2A rights.”

More than 100 people packed into a Sept. 16 district school board meeting to demand Pinta’s firing after Moms4Liberty — Lake County put up a Facebook post about the meeting and shared contact information for the district’s superintendent and board.

“Moms4Liberty don't bother me so much because I'm used to being attacked, and they're an organizational group that is higher up. They don't know me personally. They don't bother me,” Pinta said. “The harder part is having people that I serve in the community get worked up in that way.”

The most challenging experience was seeing parents bring to the meeting their children whom Pinta was teaching, she said.

“To know that I was going to have those students sitting in my classroom. I'm an adult, it's easy for me to overlook that and do my job as I do every day — but for them, I can imagine that that was a really interesting experience,” Pinta said.

'Right side of history'

Since then, the backlash has “quieted down,” Pinta said. She also decided to remove herself from Facebook.

When asked in June if she would change any of the social media comments she made, Pinta said, “I had no idea that my feelings would be of interest… above all, the saddest thing is that this young man died and that his children lost their father.”

“The most important piece is that it's really tragic that this continues to happen in our country with gun violence,” Pinta said.

Pinta said an experience she had meeting a transgender military officer who unexpectedly came to her house to thank her for correspondence received through a card campaign from the Pinta Pride Project changed her perspective on the Kirk situation, which had happened 10 months prior.

“Meeting this incredible human being, I would do everything I do again and again and again because it is just worth it,” Pinta said. “It saves lives.”

What started in 2022 as a holiday card campaign sharing messages of support for members of the LGBTQ+ community who might be estranged from their families, the now-yearlong program, Cards for Allies, has grown significantly, sending more than 50,000 cards throughout 2025.

“Her letter writing campaign certainly had a very positive effect on me, was very meaningful in my life at a very impactful period of time, and I am so very grateful for that,” Katie Benn, a transgender military officer who is a captain in the United States Army, told Raw Story.

Benn visited Pinta’s home while in Chicago last week to tell her how the letters the Pinta Pride Project sends reach people like her and to encourage Pinta to continue doing that work.

“I sincerely do believe that what she's doing is a life-saving endeavor,” Benn said.

“I just wanted to reassure her that there are real human beings on the other end of this who are getting messages of support, messages of love and care and kindness at times that really matter.”

Cards for Allies has grown to be the Pinta Pride Project’s “most important work we do,” Pinta said. The group also hosts a National Coming Out Day celebration and has put on eight Pride parades.

The 2026 parade involved 2,000 participants and 4,000 to 5,000 attendees, Pinta said.

Pinta said being a teacher while Trump is president is “very difficult,” but she has hope that “the tide is really turning.”

“The more of us that stand together, the closer we get to getting back to love and decency,” Pinta said.

As the subject of a public campaign calling for her termination, Pinta shared advice with others experiencing social media targeting.

“Know that you are on the right side of history — there are so many more people with you than are not — and that you're protecting democracy, speaking up and sharing your feelings,” Pinta said.

Moms4Liberty — Lake County did not respond to Raw Story's request for comment.