MS State Auditor addresses comments celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi State Auditor Shad White says there are consequences for expressing views on social media that openly celebrate the assassination of a prominent public figure.
Last week, Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an event at a Utah college. Hours after the murder, an employee in the vice chancellor’s office at Ole Miss shared an Instagram post that compared Kirk and others with conservative views to a Klan member and a white supremacist.
Members of the public, along with media outlets, including WCBI, reached out to Ole Miss. The university released a brief statement on social media saying the comments do not reflect the university’s values, and also confirming the employee had been terminated.
State Auditor Shad White was one of the first to question Ole Miss about the post via Facebook.
“People have the right to free speech, but also university employees, for example, are part of an institution that has a creed, and the first line in the University of Mississippi’s creed is they shall have respect for the dignity of all people.
And if you saw that social media post that was again, allegedly shared by a staff member at the University of Mississippi, comparing Charlie Kirk, just after he had been assassinated, to a Klan member, that is an absolutely disgusting statement.
You hate to see this kind of thing, and you hate for the public to have to be the ones to call it out and to seek accountability, but the good news is there was accountability at the end of it.”
Friday evening, Kirk’s widow, Erika, said the ‘American Comeback Tour” would continue. The University of Mississippi is still on Turning Point USA’s website to host the tour on October 29. WCBI is checking to confirm the event will still take place at Ole Miss.
