U of T prof who made shooting comment after Charlie Kirk assassination now on leave

The University of Toronto says one of its professors who made a seemingly violent comment on social media in the wake of the assassination of influential American conservative activist Charlie Kirk is now on leave.

Kirk was speaking to a large crowd Wednesday on the campus of Utah Valley University when he was killed by a single shot to the neck.

Ruth Marshall, an associate professor of religious studies and political science at U of T, who posts on the platform X under the name “Dr Ruth Marshall is Kicking Against the Pricks,” allegedly took to the social media platform at 5:40 p.m. ET Wednesday to write: “Shooting is honestly too good for so many of you fascist c–ts.”

Kirk was shot at about 2:20 p.m. ET and U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had died at around 4:40 p.m.

Marshall later reportedly deleted her post.

“The university took immediate action upon learning of the concerning social media posts of a University of Toronto professor,” said a written statement from U of T.

“The faculty member is now on leave and not on campus. The matter is being looked into and the university will not be commenting further.”

Marshall’s Wednesday shooting comment drew the ire of Ontario’s minister of colleges, universities, research excellence and security.

“Universities and their professors are supposed to foster critical thought, respectful debate, and be safe learning environments — and this professor’s violent rhetoric flagrantly flies in the face of that,” Nolan Quinn wrote on the social media platform X.

“I’ve been clear with the University of Toronto: they need to act.”

Marshall, who did not respond to interview requests Thursday, wrote later on X that her comment was not in response to Kirk’s assassination.

She also wrote that her shooting comment is an expression “referring to the vile and abject character of the person, not an act of killing.”

But the initial shooting comment from Marshall drew a lot of criticism on the platform where it originated.

“Fire Dr. Ruth Marshall, or I am pulling my kid from your university,” wrote one critic. “I won’t stand for this!”

“The evil of these people is almost too much to comprehend,” typed another.

One commenter urged people to write to U of T’s dean of arts to complain about Marshall’s shooting comment.

“Dr. Ruth Marshall is an excellent display of what is wrong in our education system,” another commenter said on X. “It is this kind of rot that needs to be purged.”

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