Florida parent demands resignation of school board chair who celebrated Hulk Hogan's death

Fox News

2 days ago

One parent is demanding that a Florida county school board chair resign following comments in which she appeared to praise Hulk Hogan's death as "one less MAGA" in the world.
Florida parent Jeremy Clepper told Fox News Digital in a statement that Sarah Rockwell, chair of Alachua County Public Schools, "needs to resign because of her comment 'good, one less MAGA in the world,' saying she wants all MAGAs dead."
In since-deleted social media posts, Rockwell, who was elected in 2022, said, "Oh did Hulk die? I didn't even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world."
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, died July 24 at age 71 after suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Clearwater, Florida.
In a reply to her initial comment, Rockwell added, "[H]e worked with the McMahons to union bust professional wrestling. [H]e's never been a good guy. I feel absolutely nothing about his death."
Rockwell is "an extreme progressive at the head of our school board and clearly doesn't have the mental capacity to treat all families equally and keep our children safe," Clepper said.
Clepper, who spoke Thursday at an Alachua County Public Schools school board meeting, said Rockwell should resign, calling her a "disgusting, vile human being."
He said that he was "initially removed" from the meeting but that the environment became so hostile that he ended up leaving.
Clepper told Fox News Digital that he has an elementary school child in the Alachua County Public Schools system, and that it is "absolutely terrifying that someone like her is at the head of the system."
Following her comments that went viral on social media, Rockwell deleted the messages and apologized for them on her official school board Facebook account.
"A few days ago, I made a cruel and flippant comment from my personal Facebook account on a friend's post regarding the death of Hulk Hogan," she wrote on Saturday. "I deeply regret making that comment and have since removed it. I want to make it very clear that I never have and never will wish harm on anyone regardless of whether we share political views. While I strongly disagree with some of the comments Hulk Hogan made, that is no excuse for my comment."
Rockwell added, "I also sincerely apologize for the way my comment has eroded confidence in my ability to represent all students, families, and staff in Alachua County. I want to assure all of you that the best interests of our children and our public schools are at the center of everything I do as a board member. I hope I have shown that by my record of advocacy for children, families, and staff members throughout Alachua County. Again, I apologize for the hurt and distrust I have caused with my insensitive comment. I will continue to do the hard work of putting our children and schools first. I hope that I can earn back your trust."
"There is absolutely no excuse for what I said and I take full responsibility for it," Rockwell said. "I posted an immediate apology on my professional Facebook page, and again tonight I sincerely and publicly apologize to everyone who was hurt or offended by my words."
Fox News Digital reached out to Rockwell and the Alachua County Public Schools for comment.