LINCOLN- An appointee to the state board of education who had his account on Twitter suspended appears to have shared posts questioning vaccines for young children and comparing Europe’s response to the pandemic to “Nazi Germany.”

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the appointment of Republican Kirk Penner, an Aurora businessman, and former school board member, to a vacant seat on the Nebraska State Board of Education last Thursday (Dec. 23rd).

By Friday afternoon, Penner’s Twitter account was suspended. It’s unclear when and why the account was suspended. Twitter did not immediately respond to questions from the Omaha World-Herald regarding the suspension.

A call to Penner on Friday went straight to voicemail. The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

Screenshots of what appear to be tweets from Penner’s account circulated on social media Friday.

One apparent Penner tweet about vaccination said: “Using 5-11-year-old children as guinea pigs is sad. Children are not at risk.”

Penner retweeted a tweet that says, “police are patrolling the streets to check people’s health papers to see if they are allowed to be there,” in an apparent reference to Europe’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “We used to think this was only something that happened in Nazi Germany in the past.”

In an apparent reply to a tweet from U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Penner wrote, according to a screenshot, “a medical doctor with pronouns in his bio has zero credibility. ZERO.”

Penner will complete the remainder of the term of Patricia Timm, who resigned from the District 5 seat in October, citing personal health reasons. District 5 includes much of the south side of Lincoln and rural areas of Southeast Nebraska largely south of the Platte River from Phillips to Ashland. The term runs through Jan. 4, 2023.

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