Middle Tennessee State University fired an administrator Wednesday following inappropriate social media comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Laura Sosh-Lightsy, who served as assistant dean of students, was dismissed immediately after posting about Kirk, according to a statement from the university’s president, Sidney A. McPhee.
“An MTSU employee today offered inappropriate and callous comments on social media concerning the horrific and tragic murder of Charlie Kirk,” McPhee said.
“The comments by this employee, who worked in a position of trust directly with students, were inconsistent with our values and have undermined the university’s credibility and reputation with our students, faculty, staff and the community at large. This employee has been fired effective immediately,” he said.
This comes as Kirk, 31, was fatally shot Tuesday while speaking at Utah Valley University during his “American Comeback Tour.”
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the Kirk family,” McPhee said in his statement.
“This person should be ashamed of her post,” Blackburn wrote. “She should be removed from her position at MTSU.”
Sosh-Lightsy did not return a request for comment regarding her termination.
Kirk was scheduled to appear at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the Culture and Christianity Conference running from Sept. 10 to 20, according to the conference’s Facebook page.
“He was two questions in and then we heard the shot,” Brown said. “People were trying to run out when they heard that.”
University professor Michael Andersen, located about 50 feet away, initially mistook the gunshot for a firework before witnessing people flee the amphitheater, he told the news station.
Former Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, who attended the event, confirmed hearing one shot before seeing Kirk fall backward, he told Fox.
Authorities recovered a bolt-action high-powered rifle in a wooded area where the shooter fled, the FBI said. The weapon will undergo examination and analysis.
The FBI requests that anyone with information contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit materials to fbi.gov/utahvalleyshooting.
