Boycott Office Depot? Michigan store’s refusal to print Charlie Kirk poster sparks online fury

Office Depot is facing backlash and even calls for boycott after one of its employees refused to make posters featuring conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The worker at a Michigan Office Depot was fired after allegedly refusing to print the posters for a vigil honoring Kirk, reports NewsWeek. Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political conservative activist, was fatally shot at an event in Utah Valley University on Wednesday, an incident that has sent shockwaves across the US. Charlie Kirk was a polarizing conservative activist, closely aligned with Donald Trump and influential on college campuses.

The posters were ordered by the Kalamazoo County Republican Party for a vigil that took place at Bronson Park in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday evening.

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Office Depot issues apology

Matthew DePerno, an attorney and Republican activist, stated that the Kalamazoo County Republican Party placed an order for the poster at 2:24 p.m. on Friday from the Office Depot in Portage, MI, for a vigil honoring Kirk that was set to take place that evening. But around 5:30 p.m., DePerno said a store print supervisor named “Beryl” called and told organizers the order would not be completed because the poster was “propaganda.”

In a video posted online by Matthew DePerno, an Office Depot employee is seen telling him that they will not print the poster because of its political nature. The employee, who said they were the manager on duty, told DePerno the store "doesn't print political propaganda."


“Hey @officedepot @OfficeMax do you think this is acceptable?” DePerno wrote on X, posting video taken inside the store and a receipt for the canceled order. The attorney posted a video of the incident along with an image of a receipt showing a payment of $56.17. It remains unclear whether Office Depot issued a refund.

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DePerno added that the group later visited FedEx, where the staff apologized and printed the poster at no cost.

His post quickly went viral on social media and got more than 100,000 views by Friday night. Office Depot apologized for the encounter and said it has since fired the employee involved and reached out to DePerno to rectify the situation.

“The behavior displayed by our associate is completely unacceptable and insensitive, violates our company policies, and does not reflect the values we uphold at Office Depot. We sincerely apologize to the customer affected and to our community for this regrettable situation,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to The Post.

“Upon learning of the incident, we immediately reached out to the customer to address their concerns and seek to fulfill their order to their satisfaction. We have also launched an immediate internal review and, as a result, the associate involved is no longer with the organization.”

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Boycott calls for Office Depot

Many users online gave boycott calls for Office Depot. “HOLY CRAP. A customer put in an order and paid for a poster for a vigil for Charlie. @officedepot REFUSED to print it because they said it’s ‘propaganda.’ WTF @officedepot?!” Libs of TikTok wrote on X.

Inga Springman added on her X page: “Disgusted and disappointed at the local Portage, MI Office Depot that refused to print a picture of Charlie Kirk, for a prayer vigil tonight. I’m asking every American that sees this to boycott Office Depot. #boycottofficedepot.”

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Another user, “Onedovealone,” posted on X: “WTF @officedepot ��…#BoycottOfficeDepot they dont want our business so lets shut em down! Lets put them mainstream!! We can do this! Anti-American P.O.S!!”

An X user who goes by the name “Freebird USMC” wrote: “@officedepot could have learned something from this. Now they’ll learn something else #boycottofficedepot.”

The suspect in the Charlie Kirk shooting case has been arrested and has been identified as a 22-year-old college student, Tyler Robinson.