‘I was feeling panicked’: Elkhorn administrator falsely linked to viral post about Charlie Kirk’s death shares angry voicemails she received

ELKHORN, Wis (CBS 58) – A school administrator in Elkhorn said a viral post on Facebook calling her out for a post about Charlie Kirk is misinformation. In fact, she says she barely posts on the platform at all.

Cynthia Rehberg is the Associate Principal at West Side Elementary School in Elkhorn. She said on Friday, Sept. 12, she received hundreds of voicemails and phone calls about a post she made about Charlie Kirk. Some of the messages said she should be fired, others threatened to come to her home.

“I was feeling panicked,” Rehberg said. “I was nervous, surprised, not sure what was going on.”

Conservative activist Ryan Fournier, with one million followers on Facebook, shared a post on Friday accusing Rehberg of writing a post celebrating Kirk’s death. The original post came from a profile named “Cynthia Irene,” which Rehberg says is not her account.

“For that to come out is just not who I am at all,” Rehberg said. “Never would I ever say statements like that, especially about a family that’s going through a really hard time.”

Elkhorn Area School District Superintendent Jason Tadlock said an internal investigation and two external investigations proved she was not the author of the post, and the original author was based in Williams Bay. District leaders and Rehberg don’t know how exactly the connection was made.

“Somebody took that post and then put Cindy Rehberg’s work photo from our page and clipped it to that post,” Tadock said.

Tadlock said the district received at least 700 voicemails asking to fire Rehberg due to this matter. The district deactivated the West Side Elementary School Facebook page due to the overwhelming number of comments. Around 100 students did not come to class on Monday, Sept. 15.

“It’s damaging to the school district, our reputation,” Tadlock said.

Fournier took down the post on Monday, as Rehberg returned to work. She said the threats she received from the incident caused her to stay away from her home for multiple days.

“Even though that he has put that out, there’s still a lot of people out there that maybe don’t think that’s real either,” Rehberg said.

As an educator, Rehberg hopes the conservative activist who posted this learns a lesson.

“I just feel like in this world we have to critically look at these posts. Right? Take time to just evaluate,” Rehberg

The Republican Party of Walworth County made a statement in defense of Rehberg.

Rehberg says her family is taking time to consult with a lawyer on how to move forward.