Two Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU) professors have decided to retire rather than face the possibility of being fired after comments they made regarding conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
This week, professor Russell Brown notified the school that he would be retiring, according to WJHL, while professor Andrew Herrmann retired in September.
On September 10th, Tyler Robinson allegedly killed Kirk while he was speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Utah.
After Kirk was killed, Brown went to Facebook to say, “School shootings anyone?? Kirk was one of the most verbally destructive and vile of all the Magats, an enemy of logic and facts, and a coercive misogynist and overt racist who wanted all non-magats six feet under so he and his brainless fellow stooges could rule over a white nationalist theocracy.”
“I do not advocate or support violence, but I also think this is a net positive for our failing republic,” the former professor said, according to reporter Marky Billson.
Furthermore, after Kirk’s killing, Herrmann stated, “He reaped what he sowed,” according to Matthew Hurtt, director of the Leadership Institute.
Another comment, Herrmann, who worked at ETSU for over 14 years, stated after Kirk’s death, “You can’t be upset if one of those deaths i[s] yours.”
Herrmann’s past social media posts show he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and an admirer of Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing Brian Thompson, a healthcare CEO.
Before President Donald Trump took office, Herrmann posted on Facebook that “Trump’s grave is going to make a great neutral bathroom,” and said America “didn’t elect Elon Musk, so it would not be considered a political assassination.”
ETSU put these two professors on leave on September 11 after receiving complaints from the public.
“Condoning or calling for violence has no place within ETSU’s campus community,” ETSU said in a statement, according to WJHL. “Celebrating murder is abhorrent and unequivocally wrong.”
ETSU removed Brown’s professor information page. On LinkedIn, Brown also removed his profile. Brown worked at ETSU for 25 years.
These two professors are not the only ones in Tennessee who have been disciplined for making inappropriate comments after Kirk’s death.
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville fired Tamar Shirinian after she wrote that the “world was better off without” Kirk and stated “his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath.”
Shirinian is now appealing the school’s decision to terminate her employment.
At Cumberland University, the school fired two employees: Michael Rex and Max Wood.
On social media, Rex, who was a college staff member, said, “Crying about a Nazi getting shot while staying silent about the school shooting in Colorado today is peak Republican.”
Also, he posted: “On Charlie Kirk: Thoughts and Prayers. Oh, And Kharma is a beautiful b***ch.”
On X, Wood said, “God comes to collect no matter how rich and politically powerful you are. If you live a life of SIN and bask in it, you deserve whatever judgement god deems fit. One less Pedophile supporter on this planet.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
Photo “Charlie Kirk” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 4.o.
