Michael Kilbane #

Introduction #

Michael Kilbane was the president of the city council in Fairview Park, Ohio — a suburb of Cleveland — until he resigned in September 2025 over a single social media comment. Hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at an event in Utah on September 10, 2025, Kilbane wrote, “A lot of good people died today, Charlie Kirk wasn’t one of them,” on a post regarding Kirk’s death. The comment set off days of fury in his own city: residents organized a protest at City Hall, the local chapter of a parents’ group demanded his removal, and Kilbane reported receiving death threats. By Saturday morning, September 13, he was gone, writing that he was stepping down because of “the negative attention” his comment had brought to the city.

Background Information #

Fairview Park is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with a population of 17,291 at the 2020 census; a suburb of Cleveland, it operates under a mayor-council government. Kilbane served on its city council and held the presidency of that body, a position one step below the mayor in the city’s leadership picture but distinct from it — a point that became central to the controversy, since Ohio’s mayors cannot fire elected council members.

The Kirk comment was not Kilbane’s first social media controversy. Back in 2023, residents were upset over a deleted 2021 post of his written in response to the aftermath of the George Floyd killing and other race-related incidents involving the police and the Black community, and the City of Fairview Park issued a statement at the time regarding his post.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Kirk, the founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at an event at Utah Valley University, and died of his wounds. Hours after the shooting, Kilbane commented on a post regarding Kirk’s death: “A lot of good people died today, Charlie Kirk wasn’t one of them.”

When the backlash came, Kilbane did not retract the sentiment. He defended the comment as honesty, telling News 5 Cleveland, “I said how I honestly felt about something, in my opinion, I meant nobody any harm,” and argued that Kirk wasn’t a good person because of certain viewpoints. “When he was asked about mass shootings at schools, he said that just comes with the territory. As in kids can get killed and it’s all for the Second Amendment. It’s awful what happened to him, but I guess you reap what you sow,” Kilbane said.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The reaction in Fairview Park was immediate and organized. Neighbors took their frustrations to social media, and community members organized a protest at City Hall for Monday night, at the next city council meeting. Fairview Park resident Jennifer Donnellan urged people to show up and request that Kilbane be removed from his role as council president, saying, “There are two children who will never see their father again and a wife who will never see her husband again.” The Cuyahoga County chapter of Moms for Liberty also sent a statement requesting his removal; chapter president Hilary Jackson said that disagreement with Kirk was one thing, but “to almost have words of like — celebratory for a brutal murder of a husband and a father in front of thousands is not right.”

On Friday, Mayor Bill Schneider posted a letter to residents on Facebook stating that “a mayor does not control city council, nor its speech, and cannot dismiss a councilmember” — a constraint that left Kilbane’s fate in his own hands. Schneider told other outlets that the remarks were made on Kilbane’s personal account and did not reflect the views of Fairview Park’s government, adding, “Negative comments about the recently deceased are in poor taste and are insensitive to the family that has suffered a loss. Comments made by elected officials, whether unofficially or not, carry with them a responsibility.”

The consequences also turned personal. Kilbane said he had been receiving threats since the comment: “I’ve been getting a lot of out-of-town hate mail, death threats and bomb threats. It’s awful what happened to him, I am sorry that happened to him, and political violence has no part in American democracy.” Fairview Park police said they would increase security at Monday night’s council meeting, and police chief Paul Shepard later confirmed there was no imminent threat to neighbors, that officers were providing surveillance for Kilbane, and that he had been suggested to relocate temporarily for peace of mind.

Current Status #

Kilbane resigned on Saturday morning, September 13, 2025. “Due to the negative attention a comment that I made on a social media post has brought to the City, I am hereby resigning my position as City Council President, effective immediately,” he wrote. At the time of reporting, city officials had not announced his replacement or the process by which the council presidency would be filled, and the council was set to convene for its scheduled meeting on September 15 at 7 p.m.

His resignation came amid a broader national purge over remarks about Kirk’s death: reports at the time noted that an MSNBC analyst and an Office Depot employee were also terminated for insensitive comments about the assassination.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Within three days, a comment typed on a personal social media account ended Kilbane’s tenure as council president of his city — his second social media controversy in three years, and this time one that cost him the office itself. He also left under a cloud of fear, having reported death and bomb threats serious enough that police watched over him and suggested he leave town temporarily. For Fairview Park, the episode forced an unplanned leadership vacancy, a protest at City Hall, and a crash course in the limits of municipal authority, since neither the mayor nor the city could remove an elected official who would not go. Local sentiment captured the divide: one longtime resident told Cleveland19 News, “It’s okay to have differences in opinions,” but, “it matters how you package it.”