US professors facing threats, firings and harassment over Charlie Kirk posts
A “climate of fear” is still shrouding college campuses across the US, academics have warned, after a string of professors were fired or punished for their comments after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in recent weeks, according to the American Association of University Professors. Many were targeted by rightwing campaigners, who seized on remarks they wrote or shared, and pressured their employers to take action. The late-night comedy host Jimmy Kimmel became the most high-profile suspension for comments related to Kirk. Kimmel is now back on air. But firings, suspensions and disciplinary actions have continued and – have incited concern about the state of freedom of speech in the US.
Dr Karen Leader, an associate professor of art history and faculty associate in the Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University, shared posts quoting and paraphrasing Kirk’s rhetoric, such as Kirk stating that Taylor Swift should “submit” to her fiance, his claim in 2023 that “happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact”, and comments about the second amendment being worth the gun deaths. “This is Charlie Kirk,” she wrote herself. “Academics are particularly sensitive about Charlie Kirk because we were one of his first targets with the professor watch list,” Leader said. The list, launched by Kirk in 2016, includes hundreds of professors around the US which it accuses of left-leaning bias. Many of those listed subsequently faced threats and harassment.
A group of rightwing users on social media have jumped on posts critical of Kirk, tagging the employers of academics who wrote and shared them. Prominent influencers behind such campaigns include Jordan Chamberlain, a former Ron DeSantis staffer, and the LibsofTikTok account, which has a record of pushing misinformation and targeting individuals and businesses, resulting in bomb threats and harassment. Chamberlain and LibsofTikTok posted screenshots of Leader’s posts, tagging her employer, Florida Atlantic University. Shortly afterwards, the university released a statement announcing that she was placed on academic leave and citing “repeated comments ... regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk”.
“It was signed by the president of our university, and mischaracterized what I had done,” Leader said. “I had not commented on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I hadn’t commented on his death. I hadn’t commented on the means of his death. I hadn’t in any way condoned it or celebrated it.” It comes amid a wave of disciplinary measures at universities and other workplaces. The Florida commissioner of education warned teachers they could be fired over “despicable comments” about Kirk. “Why is academia bending over and folding on our basic principles in such a blatant way?” Leader continued. “It’s a violation of the first amendment in such a blatant way that nobody should have obeyed it. But instead, there is this climate of fear.”
more... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/academics-professors-charlie-kirk
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Universities need to stand up to this unAmerican crap.