Idaho Trantifa drag queen teacher resigns after praising killing of Charlie Kirk

A Boise, Idaho drag performer and student teacher has resigned from the Vallivue School District following backlash over a Facebook post celebrating the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

Tyler "Phoenix" Lenore Devaroux, a biological male who uses they/them pronouns, according to a Facebook profile, admitted to the Idaho Dispatch that he authored the comments under the drag name Aunt Tifa. In the now-deleted post, Devaroux called the murder of Kirk “a patriotic act” and claimed that “shooting Nazis is a patriotic act,” while dismissing sympathy for the slain patriot.

“This is the shooting we need to be addressing. Charlie Kirk was shot because he’s a Nazi, shooting Nazi’s is a patriotic act,” the post read. “The students at the school were literally in a place to learn because they were required to," Devaroux said, referring to a separate school shooting. "Charlie Kirk preached hate on a daily basis. With a large following of Nazis. Rather than addressing Charlie, let’s remember the 3 kids that got shot just for going to school.”

Pictures from social media accounts linked to Devaroux show performances in drag as “Aunt Tifa” as well as personal photos. The posts were heavy with condemnation after the comments about Kirk’s assassination, which took place during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.

After screenshots of the post went viral online, Devaroux confirmed to Dispatch that he was the author. “Yes. My comment is that my comments were unprofessional and I regret everything I said,” he wrote in a direct message. “I made the decision to resign and never work in education again. I will also be seeking out intensive therapy to ensure that things like this don’t happen again.”

He further requested that the outlet remove articles with his personal information.

The Vallivue School District addressed the controversy in an email to parents, without naming Devaroux directly. “Dear Parents, The District is aware of inappropriate posts that were made on Facebook last night. Please be assured that the individual responsible is not a Vallivue employee and will no longer be on school campus. Hate speech does not represent Vallivue or what we stand for as a community. Our goal is to educate and keep your children safe. That is what we will continue to do.”

Devaroux had been placed at Lakevue Elementary School as part of student teaching requirements. Following the incident, he also announced that he was stepping down from an upcoming burlesque performance at The Balcony in Boise.