The San Francisco Standard faced sharp criticism after publishing screenshots of college students’ private group chats reacting to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The story, published Wednesday night and written by staff reporter Tomoki Chien, presented messages submitted by students at multiple campuses and described them as “largely from liberal students, born and raised in California.” The article said contributors sent screenshots documenting their immediate reactions after Kirk was shot while taking questions at Utah Valley University. Several social media users called the decision to publish the private conversations tone-deaf and inappropriate given the ongoing investigation and the family’s loss.
Chien wrote that the screenshots were intended to “reveal students’ unfiltered thoughts,” and the piece included a range of responses. Some messages expressed sorrow or empathy, one noting “Killed for speech,” while others contained celebratory or mocking reactions. The published conversations included exchanges from students at Pomona College, the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley and Tulane University, with ages identified in the story ranging from 18 to 21.
Examples quoted in the story included a Pomona College chat that said, according to the piece, “Did y’all see the Charlie Kirk shooting?” followed by “One man down...Jk why couldn't that be Trump?” In a separate Berkeley exchange a student wrote that viewing video of the shooting was traumatic; another wrote, according to the piece, that if the shooter was a person of color it would have broader implications. A Tulane student’s submissions included one message that praised Kirk’s willingness to engage across ideological lines.
Readers and social media users responded quickly and forcefully. Comments cited on the Standard’s Instagram post and elsewhere called the article “rage bait,” “distasteful” and an “obscene use of media resources,” while others questioned whether the students consented to the messages’ publication or whether the outlet had adequately vetted and contextualized the submissions.
Kevin Delaney, editor in chief of The San Francisco Standard, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the outlet said when contacted by other news organizations.
The publication’s decision came as law enforcement continued to investigate the shooting that killed Kirk, 31, the co-founder of Turning Point USA. Authorities said the gunman fired from a roof roughly 200 feet away from the Losee Center at Utah Valley University; new evidence released by the FBI showed the suspect jumping from the roof and fleeing on foot. The FBI has declined to publicly identify a motive as of Thursday night.
Kirk, a prominent conservative organizer whose work targeted college campuses, was in Orem, Utah, as part of what his organizers called an "American Comeback Tour." He is survived by his wife, Erika Frantzve, and two young children. The event where he was shot had drawn controversy in advance: campus groups had circulated a petition seeking to bar him from the Utah Valley University appearance, according to reporting. Former President Donald Trump led public tributes and said investigators were making “big progress.”
News organizations and journalism ethicists have long debated the limits of reporting on private communications, particularly when messages are submitted by third parties and published amid a criminal investigation or a traumatic event. Critics of the Standard’s coverage argued the piece risked amplifying raw, unverified private reactions and further traumatizing victims and their families. Supporters of the article argued contemporaneous reactions from students on campuses where Kirk had been a polarizing figure were newsworthy and reflected the immediate political and cultural context.
The Standard’s story and its accompanying Instagram slideshow remained available online at the time of publication, and reaction continued to circulate across platforms as federal investigators pursued leads in the killing. The FBI has urged anyone with information to come forward; the agent-led investigation into the shooter’s identity and motive remained active.