Karen Attiah, a left‑wing columnist, said that the Washington Post fired her on Monday due to posts she made on social media in response to recent violent events: the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a separate school shooting in Colorado, as per a report.

Washington Post Columnist Criticized US Political Violence

According to Attiah, she used Bluesky to condemn America’s recurring political violence and criticized what she saw as empty, ritualized responses, phrases like “thoughts and prayers” or “this is not who we are”, which, she argues, normalize gun violence and offer absolution, especially for white perpetrators, without meaningful action, as per a Fox News report.

ALSO READ: Intel stock surges 5% after big cost-cutting move and Altera stake sale

What Did Karen Attiah Say About the Charlie Kirk Assassination and Colorado School Shooting

She said, "On Bluesky, in the aftermath of the horrific shootings in Utah and Colorado, I condemned America’s acceptance of political violence and criticized its ritualized responses — the hollow, cliched calls for ‘thoughts and prayers’ and ‘this is not who we are’ that normalize gun violence and absolve [W]hite perpetrators especially, while nothing is done to curb deaths," as quoted in the report.

In her Substack post explaining what happened, Attiah shared screenshots of her Bluesky posts. One read, "Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for [W]hite men who espouse hatred and violence," as quoted by Fox News.

ALSO READ: Fed meeting this week: What to expect on interest rates and voting members

She says the only direct reference to Charlie Kirk was one post quoting something Kirk had said, Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a [W]hite person’s slot'- Charlie Kirk," as quoted in the report.

Fox News reported that Attiah appeared to reference a July 2023 remark made by Kirk during "The Charlie Kirk Show" about affirmative action in which he named Joy Reid, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee, rather than speaking broadly about all Black women, as one viral social media X post suggested.

Washington Post Allegedly Accused Karen Attiah of "Gross Misconduct"

Attiah said that the Washington Post accused her of “unacceptable,” “gross misconduct,” and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues, claims she rejects, according to Fox News.

In her post, where she included a 2019 photo of herself and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, she said that, "The Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being ‘unacceptable’, ‘gross misconduct’ and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false. They rushed to fire me without even a conversation. This was not only a hasty overreach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold," as quoted in the report.

Attiah, who joined the Washington Post in 2014, said that she was fired for speaking out against political violence, "racial double standards" and America's "empathy towards guns," as quoted by Fox News.

She also points out that she was the last Black full‑time opinion columnist at the paper, and claims her firing is part of what she sees as a broader removal of Black voices from media, business, academia, and government, a pattern she calls “dangerous” and “shameful”, as reported by Fox News.

Social Media Policy at the Washington Post

While the Washington Post's Policies and Standards includes a section on social media that reads, "Post journalists should ensure that their activity on social media platforms would not make reasonable people question their editorial independence, nor make reasonable people question The Post’s ability to cover issues fairly," as quoted in the report.

FAQs

Why was Karen Attiah fired from the Washington Post?
She says she was fired due to social media posts she made in response to recent violent events involving Charlie Kirk and a Colorado school shooting.

What does the Washington Post’s social media policy say?
Journalists should avoid social media activity that could cause people to question their independence or fairness, as per the Fox News report.