Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is making good on his promise to take action against the city of Kansas City after a city-run social media account revealed the residence of Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, in what Bailey says was an act of “retaliation” for his religious beliefs.
Speaking to “OutKick the morning” With Charly Arnolt, Bailey said his office requested records and documents related to the management of the city's social media account after a post on X last week revealed the city where Butker lives.
Harrison Butker, number 7 of the Kansas City Chiefs, arrives at Allegiant Stadium before Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The post came amid a wave of backlash Butker faced after gave a keynote speech at a private Catholic school in Kansas, where he spoke from his position as a Catholic.
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“We have demanded from the city certain records related to the management of that social media account that the doxed harrison butker in retaliation for your free expression of religious beliefs,” Bailey told Arnolt in an episode broadcast Thursday.
“Let's paint this with the right brush: namely, the government retaliating against an individual for the expression of his sincerely held religious beliefs. That could not be a clearer case of violation of his constitutional freedoms and the Human Rights Act of Missouri.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey listens during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Butker, 28, has been criticized after his graduation speech at Benedictine College. In her speech, she made specific references to female graduates embracing their “vocation” as “homemakers” and to President Biden's stance on abortion as a Catholic. She also made references to the LGBTQ community in relation to Pride month.
KANSAS CITY APOLOGIZES AFTER DOXING CHIEFS' HARRISON BUTKER AFTER FAITH-BASED COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
“At the end of the day, I support his right to free expression of religion. If you listen to what he said and dig deeper into the words he used, this is a man of Catholic faith, speaking before a Catholic audience at a Catholic university, expressing his sincere religious beliefs,” Bailey continued.
“I will always defend myself and fight for athletes or anyone else who wants to express their religious beliefs and is protected by constitutional law to do so.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. addressed the controversy after the post was deleted last week, calling it “clearly inappropriate.”
“This afternoon a message appeared from a City public account. The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account. The City has appropriately apologized for the error, will review access to the account and ensure that nothing similar is shared on the future from public channels.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas speaks about a ballot measure to determine funding for the Kansas City Police Department on Oct. 20, 2022, in his City Hall office. (Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Bailey expressed concern that the review by the mayor's office could be an attempt to close records to the attorney general's office.
“We are not going to let the city block us from demanding accountability in this case.”
Bailey called for anyone involved in posting the message to be “immediately fired and terminated.”
“We have demanded certain records and documents regarding how that account is managed and we intend to investigate that matter and hold the wrongdoers accountable. I believe Harrison Butker himself has a cause of action against the city and I am deeply concerned that” “They do not have sufficient controls to prevent the government from becoming a weapon to violate individual rights.”
The mayor's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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