As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in aftermath of shooting, allegedly without due process
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.
