Prominent opinion columnist and editor Karen Attiah said she was fired by The Washington Post last week after a series of social media posts she wrote in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Attiah, 39, disclosed the dismissal in a Substack essay Monday titled “The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced,” saying the paper had labelled her Bluesky posts “unacceptable,” “gross misconduct” and claims they endangered the physical safety of colleagues — characterizations she called false and offered no evidence for in her post. She wrote that editors made the decision without first speaking with her.
Attiah’s posts followed the fatal shooting of Kirk, 31, who was shot at a speaking engagement Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem. A 22-year-old Utah resident, Tyler Robinson, has been arrested in the case and is due in court Tuesday. In several Bluesky posts cited by Attiah, she wrote that public reaction to political violence and the nation’s approach to gun deaths reflect racial double standards.
One post quoted in her Substack said, “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.” Another read, “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is…. not the same as violence.” Attiah said she also pointed to other episodes of political shootings this year and to Kirk’s own statements, including a quote she shared in a separate post.
In her essay, Attiah framed her comments as condemnation of political violence and as commentary on how the nation responds to gun deaths. She wrote that she used her column “to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction,” and described her firing as an effort to silence that work.
Attiah has previously drawn controversy for social media remarks, including a 2021 comment in which she said white women were “lucky” that Black people were “just calling them Karens and not calling for revenge.” She has served as an opinion columnist and editor at The Washington Post.
The killing of Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent conservative activist, prompted national attention and debate over political rhetoric and security at campus events. Authorities said Kirk was shot in the neck during a debate with students; he died at the scene.
According to Attiah, The Washington Post characterised her Bluesky posts as creating safety concerns for colleagues, but in her Substack post she called the company’s action “a hasty overreach” and said the dismissal violated the standards of journalistic fairness she said the paper upholds. She also argued her remarks were descriptive and supported by data about patterns in public reaction to political and gun violence.
Attiah said she plans to continue writing and speaking out on issues of political violence, racial double standards and guns. Her account of the events and the paper’s cited reasons for the dismissal were detailed in her Substack essay. Further comment from The Washington Post was not included in her post.