University announces ‘thorough review’ in response to viral video
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is looking into whether the University of North Texas (UNT) potentially violated state law after a student was allegedly harassed for her religious beliefs following her denouncement of the celebration of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
In a Sept. 19 letter sent to University President Harrison Keller and Dean of Students Laura Smith on Friday, Paxton detailed allegations that on the day of Kirk’s killing, Mary-Catherine Hallmark faced hostility for expressing her faith-based stance against celebrating violence.
Hallmark chronicled the incident on social media, including a viral TikTok video showing a classmate displaying a video of Kirk’s assassination while others cheered and expressed support for the act.
In the Sept. 10 video, Hallmark challenged her classmates, who were seen celebrating Kirk’s death earlier that day. “Why are we cheering for someone getting shot? No matter what political beliefs are, we should not be cheering that someone got shot,” she is heard saying in the video. “He has a family.”
The next day, UNT shared a statement on Kirk’s “tragic death” and condemned “recent actions of a few of our community members,” but did not specifically refer to Hallmark’s video.
Paxton’s letter claims the professor failed to intervene and instead asked Hallmark to leave the classroom, effectively punishing her for her beliefs.
Just one week later, on Sept. 18, Hallmark shared another video of an incident involving a student grabbing flyers from a TPUSA setup outside a UNT campus library. The video shows the unidentified student ripping up the TPUSA materials, which said, “Always love America,” and throwing them on the ground before telling the group, “Go f— yourselves and burn in Hell.”
Following the incident, the TPUSA chapter filed a police report.
In an audio recording of a meeting between Hallmark and UNT police posted Sept. 17, Hallmark told police she faced threats and harassment directed at her via the anonymous social media app Yik Yak, including posts targeting her by name, attacking her religious and political beliefs, and wishing harm upon her.
Some of the messages Hallmark shared with police referred to Kirk as a “white supremacist,” while others used curse words to describe how they viewed God’s response to Hallmark, including one that said, “I hope you know that God is ashamed of you.”
In light of the events, Paxton’s letter — which claims Kirk was “assassinated for his courageous defense of truth, patriotism, and Christian beliefs” — warned UNT that the video shared by Hallmark “demonstrates that there may be numerous violations of university policy, ranging from Student Conduct to Employee impartiality.”
Calling Hallmark’s allegations “concerning,” Paxton added, “For too long, schools across the country have ignored complaints of misconduct against left-wing students. This lack of disciplinary action has reinforced a principle that such conduct is appropriate and, in turn, has contributed to radicalizing individuals to engage in reprehensible actions.”
“Texans must be reassured that their children are not being subjected to such indoctrination,” he added.
In a statement issued Sept. 20, Keller announced a “thorough review of recent actions by a few of our community members,” adding, “We take these and all allegations of misconduct by students or faculty very seriously. We expect UNT students and community members to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the values and policies of the university.”
A rally recognizing Hallmark and organized by the Denton County Republican Party was held Tuesday afternoon.
