A wave of fallout regarding comments and social media posts made about right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk’s Sept. 10 murder hit Alabama this week, resulting in multiple educators across the state losing their jobs while some state leaders and students call for additional retribution.

Auburn University fired multiple employees last week over social media posts regarding Kirk’s death that university President Christopher Roberts said were “hurtful, insensitive and completely at odds with Auburn’s values,” in a statement posted to X.

The university has not named any fired employees, or specified how many employees were fired, nor have they outlined specific details of the posts that led to termination.

Conservative students are in part leading the charge calling out college professors in the state in the wake of Kirk’s death — Kirk led a group mobilizing conservative students and young people, Turning Point USA. AL.com spoke to Brilyn Hollyhand, a conservative student at Auburn University and chair of the Republic National Convention’s Youth Advisory Council, who said he has been contacting university presidents and donors throughout the state in an effort to fire professors who have been critical of Kirk.

“I’ve spoken with a lot of donors that don’t want to be supporting universities that keep professors on payroll, that applaud assassinations,” Hollyhand said, “and so that’s going to be something that we’re very, very happy to make a few calls and help withhold donor money if that’s something that continues.”

Conservative students are not alone in their efforts. Some state leaders have also jumped into the calls for retribution, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, calling for a University of Alabama professor to be fired as well.

The professor Tuberville took aim at is journalism professor A.J. Bauer, who made a post on X following Kirk’s murder saying “this right on right violence is out of control.”

Tuberville responded with his own post on X saying, “Absolutely ridiculous. @UofAlabama, fire him.”

As of now, UA has not made any statements on the issue.

Alabama K-12 educators have also faced some backlash, with Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey warning educators last week that “inappropriate” social media posts will result in investigations and disciplinary action. 

Mackey said this warning comes after he was made aware of three “inexcusable” posts that were made by Alabama educators following Kirk’s murder. He did not elaborate on the content of these posts, but said that they may violate the Alabama Administrative Code and the Educator Code of Ethics, though he did not state how.

The three educators have been removed from their positions, and Mackey said that these posts, as well as any other reported posts, will be “thoroughly reviewed and investigated” by the state board of education’s certification team.

“In my years as state superintendent, I have removed people from our profession and otherwise reprimanded inappropriate behavior in order to protect our students and to safeguard our profession. I will continue to do so, and I will not tolerate a small group of bad actors to diminish our calling or tarnish our profession,” Mackey said.

Alabama top stories in brief

State asks appeals court to lift absentee ballot injunction

• The Alabama attorney general’s office is asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a judge’s preliminary injunction from last year that blocked an Alabama state law that makes it a felony to provide gifts or payments for helping with an absentee ballot application.
• The judge ruled in the preliminary injunction that the ban violates the Voting Rights Act’s assurances that disabled or illiterate voters can get help from a person of their choice.
• The state is arguing that the ban prevents paid political operatives from taking advantage of those voters.

Drought conditions spread through Alabama

• Nearly all of the state is experiencing drought conditions, according to last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor weekly report.
• Only 8.1% of the state is drought-free, the rest of the state is either drier than average or officially experiencing a drought. The amount of area in the state experiencing these conditions is up 49.4% from the previous week.
• Marengo County is the driest part of the state, experiencing severe drought conditions.
• Forecasts for this week predict scattered showers across the state.

Alabama nature preserve wins $4 million federal grant

• Graham Creek Nature Preserve, a city-owned nature preserve in Foley, received a $4 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week.
• The city said it will use the money to buy more property to be added to the preserve. 
• The preserve, which was founded in 2010, currently comprises around 650 acres of coastal wetlands adjacent to Wolf Bay, Moccasin Bayou and Hammock Bay. The preserve features trails, an interpretive center, disc golf courses and fields used for events.

State library board continues to withhold Fairhope library funding

• Members of the Alabama Public Library Service said in their meeting Thursday the board will continue to withhold funding from the Fairhope Public Library over book challenges.
• APLS members voted to review some of the challenged books from the Fairhope library’s teen collection themselves to decide if they meet the APLS’ definition of sexually explicit materials.
• Fairhope Public Library has been in an ongoing dispute with the APLS regarding material shelved in the library’s teen section that the board and critics of the library say contain “sexually explicit material.” Many of the books challenged focus on LGBT storylines or sexual education. 
• The library has been without state funding since March.

Like our work? Then support it!

Want to get early access to columns, unique newsletters and help keep The Sunrise News active? Then support us on Ko-Fi!

Support our work!