BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Arkansas state officials are calling for the termination of law professor Felicia Branch after she made controversial comments celebrating the death of political commentator Charlie Kirk.
- Branch, who recently joined the University of Arkansas Little Rock, was suspended after posting on Facebook that she would not pull back from 'CELEBRATING' Kirk's death, calling him 'an evil man.
- Attorney General Tim Griffin and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned Branch's remarks as unacceptable, with Griffin stating that her comments justify political violence and do not align with the standards expected of educators.
- The Chancellor of U. Arkansas Little Rock emphasized the need for educators to maintain higher conduct standards and condemned Branch's remarks as contrary to fostering a civil and rigorous academic environment.
State officials in Arkansas are demanding a University of Arkansas Little Rock law professor be terminated for her comments regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk.
According to KUAR, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Attorney General Tim Griffin, and Lt. Governor Leslie Rutledge are among those calling for the dismissal of Felicia Branch, whose faculty page notes is the director of the school’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and was hired by U. of A. this past July.
The Bowen School of Law announced Tuesday that Branch was suspended (with pay) for her anti-Kirk comments, KTHV reported.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Branch wrote “It never fails. People have come out caping for the devil that walked among us […] so no. I will not pull back from CELEBRATING that an evil man died by the method he chose to embrace.”
Branch added “You’re so QUICK to chastise, thinking we’re simply celebrating a death. We. Are. Not […] evil begets evil [and Kirk] is no longer able to beget evil. That’s cause célébre.”
Branch also posted a meme showing members of the Ku Klux Klan surrounding a burning cross with the title “PEOPLE MOURNING CHARLIE KIRK.”
In a statement posted to Facebook, Arkansas Attorney General Griffin wrote “There can be no consideration of someone of such evident low character continuing to instruct future lawyers here in Arkansas. We should and do have broad academic freedom in this country. But protections for scholarship offer no reason for an employer to tolerate an employee unabashedly celebrating political assassination.”
Griffin later called for Branch to be fired, noting the First Amendment does not “guarantee you the job you want, regardless of what you say.”
In a statement on X, Gov. Huckabee Sanders wrote that Branch’s “comments are vile, disgusting, and unacceptable” and that “she must be fired immediately.”
KTLO reports that in a statement made earlier today, U. Arkansas Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale said Branch’s comments “appear to justify political violence against individuals based on ideology.”
The chancellor added “as educators we should hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct that values civil discourse, speaks clearly about the dangers of political violence, and that prioritizes a rigorous, fair-minded learning environment.”
Branch’s remarks, Drale noted, “do not reflect this standard.”
MORE: UMich professor mocks Kirk’s death as ‘prudent’ and ‘rational’
MORE: Two Ball State U. employees under investigation for Charlie Kirk assassination posts
