Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah said on Monday, Sept. 15, that she had been let go by her employer over a series of social media posts she made following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In a post on Substack, Attiah said that she was "being silenced" following the series of posts that focused on gun control and race following Kirk's assassination on Sept. 10.
"As a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction," Attiah wrote. "Now, I am the one being silenced — for doing my job."
According to Attiah, she only referenced Kirk in one of her posts on Bluesky.
In that post, the columnist shared a screenshot of a quote in which Kirk said several prominent Black women, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, did "not have (the) brain processing power to be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot."
When contacted by USA TODAY, a Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment, saying the media outlet did not "comment on personnel matters."
In a series of posts, the Washington Post Guild condemned the firing of Attiah, calling it a wrongful firing and saying that they would stand with her.
"The Washington Post wrongly fired Opinions columnist Karen Attiah over her social media posts," the Guild said.
According to Attiah’s Washington Post profile, she had been with the newspaper for over a decade, joining in 2014.
Visa revocations "are underway" over non-U.S. citizens celebrating the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, per a Monday night post by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio made the announcement on X while sharing a video from a Fox News interview on Monday, during which he was asked if he planned to restrict visa access or revoke visas for those celebrating Kirk's killing.
- The second Trump administration has already revoked hundreds of visas in a sweeping immigration crackdown that's targeted students with pro-Palestinian views in a strategy First Amendment and immigration advocates argue is impinging on free speech.
- The administration said last month it's scrutinizing the records of all U.S. visa holders for potential violations that could result in deportations.
Fox News' Gillian Turner noted during her interview with Rubio that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau had been "calling out on social media foreigners who he says are celebrating, glorifying" the fatal shooting of Kirk in Utah last Wednesday.
- Landau had indicated in his Thursday post that the State Department would review the legal status of immigrants "praising, rationalizing, or making light" of Kirk's killing, and Turner asked Rubio about plans for those U.S. visa holders.
- Rubio said a visa "means you're a visitor to the United States" and "we are not in the business of inviting people to visit our country who are going to be involved in negative and destructive behavior."
- People who "celebrate the murder, the execution, the assassination, of a political figure" should not be allowed in the country, he said. "And if they're already here, we should be revoking their visa."
"America will not host foreigners who celebrate the death of our fellow citizens," Rubio said on X.
- "Visa revocations are underway. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported. You are not welcome in this country."
- Representatives for the State Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on how many visas have been revoked so far.