In the minutes, hours and days following the shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk last week, reaction across social media was wide and plentiful.
Most condemned the shooting. Many who spoke out against using violence against those with whom we disagree politically also noted some of Kirk’s stances over the years. And, yes, some who criticized Kirk either celebrated his death or, at least, did not seem bothered by it. Although, to be fair, that latter group was in the minority.
Still, there have been examples of people losing their jobs over comments about Kirk. The Associated Press’ Cathy Bussewitz and Wyatte Grantham-Philips wrote, “Several conservative activists have sought to identify social media users whose posts about Kirk they viewed as offensive or celebratory, targeting everyone from journalists to teachers. Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer said she would try to ruin the professional aspirations of anyone who celebrated Kirk’s death.”
Among those dismissed were journalists, though the two most prominent cases involved people who did not celebrate Kirk’s death and, in fact, strongly condemned it.
MSNBC fired analyst Matthew Dowd for his comments that “hateful words lead to hateful actions,” seemingly a reference to Kirk making divisive statements in the past.
And on Monday, Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, said she was dismissed from the paper for, “Speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s apathy toward guns.”
In a Substack post, Attiah wrote, “As a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction. Now, I am the one being silenced - for doing my job. On Bluesky, in the aftermath of the horrific shootings in Utah and Colorado, I condemned America’s acceptance of political violence and criticized its ritualized responses — the hollow, cliched calls for ‘thoughts and prayers’ and ‘this is not who we are’ that normalize gun violence and absolve white perpetrators especially, while nothing is done to curb deaths.
I expressed sadness and fear for America.”
Attiah then listed several of the social media posts she made following Kirk’s death, although only one mentioned Kirk by name.
The Washington Post declined to comment on Attiah’s dismissal.
Attiah specifically referred to Kirk in her Substack post, writing, “My journalistic and moral values for balance compelled me to condemn violence and murder without engaging in excessive, false mourning for a man who routinely attacked Black women as a group, put academics in danger by putting them on watch lists, claimed falsely that Black people were better off in the era of Jim Crow, said that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake, and favorably reviewed a book that called liberals ‘Unhumans’. In a since-deleted post, a user accused me of supporting violence and fascism. I made clear that not performing over-the-top grief for white men who espouse violence was not the same as endorsing violence against them. My only direct reference to Kirk was one post— his own words on record.”
She then posted a quote she attributed to Kirk: “Black women do not have the brain to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot.”
Mediaite’s David Gilmour wrote, “Attiah’s quote, however, was not in Kirk’s ‘own words.’ The misquote appears to reference remarks in a show from July 2023 where Kirk was speaking specifically about former MSNBC host Joy Reid, former first lady Michelle Obama, then-congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a tirade about affirmative action.”
Still, it did not appear that it was that post, or any one specific post, that led to her firing. Attiah wrote that “the Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being ‘unacceptable’, ‘gross misconduct’ and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false. They rushed to fire me without even a conversation — claiming disparagement on race. This was not only a hasty overreach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold.”
Attiah added, “My most widely shared thread was not even about activist Charlie Kirk, who was horribly murdered, but about the political assassinations of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband and her dog. I pointed to the familiar pattern of America shrugging off gun deaths, and giving compassion for white men who commit and espouse political violence.”
In the termination letter that Attiah shared with Status’ Oliver Darcy, the Post’s head of human resources, Kevin Connell, wrote, “Among other requirements, the Company-wide social media policy mandates that all employee social media postings be respectful and prohibits postings that disparage people based on their race, gender or other protected characteristics. The policy also reminds employees that everything they post is a reflection on the Company and should not affect the integrity of The Post’s journalism. Your postings on Bluesky (which clearly identifies you as a Post Columnist) about white men in response to the killing of Charlie Kirk do not comply with our policy. For example, you posted: ‘Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is…. not the same as violence’ and ‘Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.’”
Darcy wrote, “Suffice it to say, the letter took Attiah by surprise, especially given how quickly the situation escalated.”
She told Darcy, “It’s a level of cruelty I did not expect.”
The Washington Post’s opinion section has been in flux over the past several months, ever since Post owner Jeff Bezos announced a retooling of the section. Bezos said in February that “we are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.”
That led to highly respected opinion editor David Shipley immediately stepping down, followed by several columnists in the following weeks and months.
Writing for The Independent, Justin Baragona wrote Monday, “The termination of Attiah also comes a month after she reportedly had a tense standoff with the Post’s newly-installed opinion editor Adam O’Neal amid an exodus of staffers following the paper’s conservative shift in the opinion section. Though a number of veteran columnists and journalists had taken the voluntary buyouts the Post was offering to those who felt they didn’t align with the new vision, Attiah instead decided to stay despite her poor meeting with O’Neal.”
The Washington Post Guild put out this statement: “The Washington Post Guild condemns the unjust firing of columnist Karen Attiah. The Washington Post wrongly fired Opinions columnist Karen Attiah over her social media posts. The Post not only flagrantly disregarded standard disciplinary processes, it also undermined its own mandate to be a champion of free speech. The right to speak freely is the ultimate personal liberty and the foundation of Karen’s 11-year career at The Post. We’re proud to call Karen a colleague and a longtime union sibling. The Post Guild stands with her and will continue to support her and defend her rights.”
Attiah wrote, “I was the last remaining Black full-time opinion columnist at the Post, in one of the nation’s most diverse regions.” She would add, “I am proud of my eleven years at the Post. Beyond awards and recognition, the greatest honor has been working with brilliant colleagues and connecting with readers and writers around the world. To all who have supported me, read me, even those who disagreed with me — I say, thank you. You’ve made me a better writer, thinker, and person.”
