A high school teacher in Penobscot County has been fired for comments he made in a classroom about Charlie Kirk’s assassination that stirred an uproar in the Lincoln school district.

The Regional School Unit 67 school board, serving the towns of Lincoln, Chester and Mattawamkeag, fired Derek Brewer, a social studies teacher at Mattanawcook Academy, in a unanimous vote at its Dec. 17 meeting.

The decision was preceded by months of deliberations among board members, and one especially contentious meeting that ultimately resulted in a school board member resigning.

On Sept. 11, one day after the assassination, Brewer told a freshman class that “he didn’t care that Charlie Kirk died,” RSU 67 board Chair Rebbecca Hanscom said at last month’s meeting. Brewer also “found it ironic that Charlie Kirk was shot,” Hanscom said, referencing a video of Kirk that circulated on social media in the wake of the assassination in which the right-wing political activist had argued that a certain number of gun deaths would have to be tolerated in order to uphold the Second Amendment.

“Mr. Brewer used his classroom as a personal forum to express his political views not related to the curriculum,” which is a violation of district policies, Hanscom said at the meeting. “Mr. Brewer’s statements, made so close in time to an emotionally charged event in our history, were upsetting to a substantial segment of Mr. Brewer’s students and resulted in substantial disruption to the school community.”

On Sept. 12, one day after Brewer’s comments, a group of angry parents went to the school and called for him to be fired. Police had to be called in for assistance, Hanscom said.

That same day, Hanscom said, nearly 100 students were marked as having an unexcused absence or early dismissal, and several parents have since pulled their students from the district to be homeschooled.

“Mr. Brewer is unfit to teach, and his services are unprofitable to RSU 67,” Hanscom concluded at the December meeting. “Mr. Brewer is dismissed from employment with RSU 67, effective immediately.”

Despite being relieved of his duties, Brewer was still listed in the staff directory of the Mattanawcook Academy webpage on Tuesday.

Attempts to contact Brewer for an interview were unsuccessful Tuesday night.

This story has been updated to indicate that Lincoln is in Penobscot County.