It’s official: printing a memorial for someone you disagree with is now “propaganda.” At least, that’s how one Office Depot employee in Michigan saw it — until the internet saw her.
The story starts in Portage, Michigan, where a team member from Michigan Forward ordered a simple memorial poster to honor the late Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist assassinated just days ago. The poster wasn’t anything wild — just a photo of Kirk with the words: “The Legendary Charlie Kirk, 1993–2025.” No politics. No slogans. Just a tribute.
But when someone showed up to pick it up for a prayer vigil? Nope. Not happening.
Why? Because, according to one of the store’s managers, it was — wait for it — “propaganda.”
Yep. That’s the word she used. Not once. Not twice. But repeatedly, as she told the customer to take his paid-for poster and — well — not take it at all.
The whole thing was caught on video. And just like that, Office Depot was trending for all the wrong reasons.
In the video, the customer tries to clarify. “It’s for a prayer vigil,” he says, trying to explain that this is a memorial for a man who was just murdered. But the manager cuts him off, doubling down: “It’s propaganda. Sorry. We don’t print that here.”
You can hear the confusion in their voices. The awkward pause. The disbelief. But the manager stands firm, clearly more comfortable gatekeeping political narratives than fulfilling paid orders.
When asked to explain what exactly made the image propaganda, she offered nothing except a vague swipe at Charlie Kirk being a “political figure.” So let’s get this straight: honoring a political figure is now unacceptable? Do we need to cancel every Reagan memorial too? Or is this only a problem when the person being memorialized has an “R” next to their name?
The situation escalated when the employee insisted she didn’t have to justify her decision any further, and the customer would have to wait until Monday to speak with a store manager. Of course, the internet doesn’t wait for Monday.
Michigan Forward posted the video online. And the reaction? Immediate.
A team member ordered and paid for a poster to be printed at @officedepot so he could bring it to a vigil for Charlie Kirk tonight in Michigan.
When he arrived to pick it up four hours later, the employees said they refused to print it, calling the poster “propaganda.” pic.twitter.com/WCitioCzZF
— Michigan Forward (@MIForward_Net) September 12, 2025
By the next day, Office Depot corporate issued a public statement saying they were “deeply concerned,” calling the behavior “completely unacceptable and insensitive,” and, most importantly, letting the employee go.
To our customers pic.twitter.com/XYlcFPpInN
— Office Depot (@officedepot) September 13, 2025
So let’s just take a moment here. A man was assassinated. Someone paid for a poster to take to a vigil. And a big-box store employee decided that was the moment to play political censor. Imagine if this had gone the other way — if someone refused to print a tribute to a progressive icon. You think we’d still be talking about it days later? You think there wouldn’t be protests in the parking lot?
Let’s be honest. We’ve reached a point where some people can’t separate politics from basic human decency. And that’s where this story hits hardest. This wasn’t about campaign flyers or hot-button slogans. It was about honoring a life — and being told you can’t, because someone behind the counter didn’t like who he was.
The silver lining? At least corporate acted fast. But for a lot of folks watching, this was one more example of a disturbing trend: when honoring the wrong person becomes unacceptable, and doing the decent thing is now up for political debate.
The question now is — how many more of these stories are we going to see?
Because the message is getting clearer by the day: Some voices deserve silence. Others get a platform. And the difference isn’t about what’s right or respectful.
It’s about who’s in charge of the printer.
