(LifeSiteNews) – More leftists have gone public with their hatred of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk and celebration of his death, an alarming number of whom hail from the education field.
Kirk, the head of campus outreach group Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. On Friday, authorities apprehended and accused 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson. Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said Robinson viewed Kirk as someone “spreading hate.” Robinson’s ammunition was indeed inscribed with references to “fascists,” but early reports of messages related to transgenderism appear to be false.
While expressions of sympathy have come from all across the political spectrum, examples quickly spread across social media of left-wing voices celebrating Kirk’s death, suggesting he deserved it in some way, or otherwise making light of the murder. As LifeSite previously covered, MSNBC fired commentator Matthew Dowd for suggesting Kirk provoke the shooting with “hateful words.”
Since then, several additional examples have circulated.
On Thursday, DC Comics confirmed it was canceling a Batman spinoff comic titled Red Hood after its writer, “transgender” Gretchen Felker-Martin said on BlueSky, “Thoughts and prayers you Nazi b****” and “Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk.” The iconic entertainment brand said that while it puts “the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints,” comments that “can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.”
Incoming Oxford Union president George Abaraonye, who had debated Kirk in the past, posted in a private student chat “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f***ing go,” and “Charlie Kirk got shot loool.” The outgoing administration of the English debating society condemned the remarks and stressed that the “current administration has, under President Moosa Harraj, no association with, and is entirely independent from, Mr Abaraonye’s administration.”
Middle Tennessee State University, meanwhile, fired assistant dean Laura Sosh-Lightsy after she posted on Facebook, “Looks like ol’ Charlie spoke his fate into existence. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.” University president Sidney McPhee said the “comments by this employee, who worked in a position of trust directly with students, were inconsistent with our values and have undermined the university’s credibility and reputation with our students, faculty, staff and the community at large (…) We extend our deepest sympathies to the Kirk family.”
And at the University of Michigan, School of Education assistant professor Charles H.F. Davis posted on X, “Even if you believe violence isn’t the answer, it is a solution, especially to the violent conditions and violent rhetoric spewed by empowered people that create them.” He also reposted comments from others that Kirk was a “reminder of two things: your words don’t skip consequences, they just collect interest. And lastly, empathy has boundaries”; and that Kirk “spent his entire life disparaging immigrants, disrespecting women, and blaming black folks, only to get shot in one of the whitest places on earth.” In response, so far UMich has said only that it “does not take positions on matters not directly connected to university governance. Faculty members are free to speak and debate issues of the day; but, to be clear, those individual expressions do not represent the views of the university.”
Conservatives have long warned of the left-wing bias of modern academia. That several school officials, and not just students, celebrated Kirk’s death puts that longstanding grievance in especially grim perspective.
The White House sent Vice President JD Vance and his family to comfort Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City and allowed the use of Air Force Two to transport his casket. President Donald Trump has also announced he will posthumously award the conservative activist with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the nation’s highest civilian honors.
