A Kentucky professor has been placed on unpaid leave after making an insensitive comment about Saturday’s failed assassination attempt on former President Trump.
John James, an English professor at Bellarmine University, was suspended after posting a message on social media in which he wrote, “If you’re going to shoot, man, don’t miss.”
The comment was posted alongside a New York Times article reporting that Trump was safe after the attempt on his life circulated on X, formerly Twitter.
Bellarmine, a Catholic university in Louisville, said words and actions that condone violence “are unacceptable and contrary to our values, which call for respect for the intrinsic worth and dignity of every individual.”
Mr James’ comment, which came from a screenshot of an Instagram story designed to disappear within 24 hours, was broadcasted by Libs from TikToka popular conservative account on social media.
John James is an English professor at Bellarmine University in Kentucky. He was placed on unpaid leave after making a snide remark about the recent assassination attempt of the former president.
The announcement came after his post was reposted by the far-right account Libs of TikTok on X
The account’s post received thousands of comments and millions of views.
Most of those who responded to the post said things like, “He should be fired. Period.” and “Not a good look for Catholic University. It would be a shame if enough people sent it to the school’s governing dioceses.”
It is not clear how many people viewed Mr James’ original post on Instagram, where his page has been removed. His Facebook page is also offline.
A university spokesperson said that after his post was brought to the university’s attention, likely due to pressure from some of the 3.2 million Libs of TikTok followers, “that individual was immediately placed on unpaid leave.”
Part of the university’s mission statement, which commentators have said contradicts Mr James’s statement, states: The purpose of education is to “find the true self, the interconnectedness of life and the solidarity of the human spirit, transcending ethnic, religious and social divides.”
But one of the commentators said, “These people have no care for human life. Only contempt for those who don’t conform.”
Another said: ‘Quite crazy for a teacher to say something like that. @bellarmineU is this the kind of institution you run?
Another said, “I am Catholic. This is not the way I was raised or taught by the many nuns and priests who were involved in my education.”
Bellarmine University is a small liberal arts college with approximately 3,900 students.
In 2021, a reported 14 of these students earned bachelor’s degrees in English, the subject Mr. James teaches.
Although James’ social media accounts have been deactivated, followers of the Libs of TikTok expressed their desire to “make him famous.”
Mr. James is not the only citizen facing punishment for insensitive comments about the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
On Monday, Janiece Binns, a nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital, was fired after TikTok Libs reposted her online post just hours after the attack, saying, “Like, bro. Work on your skills” and calling Trump’s would-be assassin “the most hated motherfucker on the planet” for going missing.
Her comments sparked a furious online backlash against the hospital, with many people demanding that she be removed from her post.
One user said: ‘Imagine receiving care from a woman who wishes you were dead if you voted differently than her. That blows my mind after working with so many amazing nurses.’
And another said: ‘Can you imagine what she would do to a patient if she found out they were a Trump supporter? She shouldn’t be in a position to care for people when a human life means so little to her. Do better.’
Nurses must be impartial in their profession and treat all patients equally.
She has since deactivated her social media accounts and is no longer available for comment via DailyMail.com.
President Trump came a hair’s breadth away from suffering a moral head wound when shots were fired at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The assailant, Thomas Matthew, 20, opened fire on the former president with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop 450 feet (130 meters) from the rally stage, fatally shooting a fan of the former president, a firefighter who was shielding his family from the gunfire.
Mr. Trump said of the attack: “I rarely look away from the crowd. If I hadn’t done that at that moment, well, we wouldn’t be having this today, right?
“The most incredible thing was that not only did I turn, but I turned at exactly the right time and to exactly the right degree,” he added, saying he survived “by luck or by God.”