Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey confirmed he is taking action against a social media account he claims “doxed” Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.
The Republican politician said he requested records and documents related to the administration of the official Kansas City Kansas.
Last week, the account shared (and quickly deleted) a post that read, “Just a reminder that Harrison Butker is in town [redacted]naming a nearby Missouri suburb.
During an appearance on the podcast Surpass the morning, Bailey described the tweet as ‘retaliation for his free expression of religious beliefs.”
“Let’s paint this with the right brush, which is the government retaliating against an individual for expressing their sincerely held religious beliefs,” he continued.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey takes action against Kansas City over a post on
He claimed Harrison Butker was the victim of ‘retaliation for his expression of religious beliefs’
“That could not be a clearer case of a violation of his constitutional freedoms and the Missouri Human Rights Act.”
Butker, 28, faced widespread backlash for suggesting women should embrace their “calling” as “homemakers” before taking aim at the LGBTQ+ community and President Biden’s position on abortion during the graduation speech.
“Ultimately, I support his right to free expression of religion,” Bailey added.
“If you listen to what he said and dig deeper into the words he used, this is a man of Catholic faith, speaking to a Catholic audience at a Catholic university.”
He continued, “I will always stand up and fight for athletes or anyone else who wants to express their religious beliefs and is protected by the Constitution to do so.”
The Chiefs kicker faced widespread backlash for his sexist graduation speech
The city’s official X account quickly deleted the post before issuing an apology
Even the NFL has distanced itself from Butker after his controversial comments
After the post was quickly deleted on Kansas City’s social media, Mayor Quinton Lucas called the tweet “clearly inappropriate.”
“Earlier this evening, a message appeared from a city public account. The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account. “The council has rightly apologized for the error and will review account access and ensure something like this is not shared via public channels in the future,” he said last week.
Bailey called for those involved in sharing the message to be “immediately fired and terminated.”
Meanwhile, the NFL publicly condemned Butker’s comments and reiterated that his views are “not those” of the league.
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in a personal capacity,” said Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer. “The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusivity, which only makes our league stronger.”