US Columnist Claims She Was Fired After Speaking Out On Violence, Guns
Longtime Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah has alleged that she was fired from the paper's Opinions department after "speaking out against political violence," following right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's death.
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Karen Attiah believes the Washington Post has silenced her voice following her termination.
Veteran Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah has claimed her employment was terminated after she "spoke out against political violence" in the aftermath of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's death.
Ms Attiah, who served at the newspaper for more than ten years, alleges her dismissal followed her expression of concerns regarding racial double standards and gun regulation in America.
Having joined the publication in 2014 with aspirations to serve the public through journalism, Ms Attiah expressed in a Substack post that she now feels the newspaper has suppressed her voice.
According to Ms Attiah, she mentioned Charlie Kirk directly in only one post. "In 2023, Kirk reportedly made a comment stating that certain prominent Black women 'do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.'"
She incorporated a screenshot of this Bluesky post in her Substack letter to demonstrate she was quoting Kirk's own words as evidence for her critique. She clarified that she wasn't making false accusations against him but rather referencing his own statement.
In response to shootings in Utah and Colorado, Karen Attiah criticized America's acceptance of political violence.
"I denounced America's tolerance of political violence and criticized its ritualized responses - the empty, stereotypical calls for 'thoughts and prayers' and 'this is not who we are' that normalize gun violence and particularly absolve white perpetrators, while no action is taken to reduce fatalities," she wrote.
Karen Attiah further stated, "I wish I could be hopeful about gun control and believe that political violence has no place in this country. But we inhabit a nation that accepts the massacre of white children through gun violence."
Ms Attiah also pointed out that she was the final full-time Black opinion columnist at The Post. She notes that with her departure, the publication no longer employs a columnist representing the experiences and perspectives of the local community.
Ms Attiah reports that The Post accused her of "gross misconduct," describing her social media posts as "unacceptable," and claiming she endangered "the physical safety of colleagues" - allegations she firmly denies.
"Political violence should not exist in this country. Yet we also take no action to limit the availability of guns used to perpetrate such violence," she stated in her Substack post. "America is ill and there appears to be no remedy in sight," according to reporting by The Guardian.
Ms Attiah characterizes her termination as part of a broader effort to silence Black voices across media, government, industry, and academia—a historical pattern she describes as tragic and dangerous.
"Because America, particularly white America, will not do what is necessary to eliminate the guns in their country," she added.