A Wayne State University professor in the Department of English was suspended with pay, effective immediately, for a social media post that said it’s “far more admirable” to murder ‘right-wing’ speakers rather than “shout them down.”
Steven Shaviro, the alleged professor who posted the disturbing statements, wrote, “I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down.”
“When right-wing groups invite such speakers to campus, it is precisely because they want to provoke an incident that discredits the left,” Shaviro added.
Here’s the shocking post:
“Hi @waynestate is this one of your professors publicly calling for murder ON CAMPUS of any speaker who has an opinion he disagrees with?” Twitter user @TheFamousArtBR asked, tagging the university.
Hi @waynestate is this one of your professors publicly calling for murder ON CAMPUS of any speaker who has an opinion he disagrees with?
“I think it is far more admirable to kill” pic.twitter.com/5TjDACUuGl— TheFamousArtistBirdyRose (@TheFamousArtBR) March 25, 2023
“A leftist professor at Wayne State University in Michigan has been suspended with pay after publishing a Facebook post calling for the murder of conservative campus speakers.”https://t.co/VrsTHG4ZR2
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) March 28, 2023
1) Professor Steven Shaviro, made a Facebook post that encouraged people to kill their political opponents instead of merely protest them. His Twitter account is now private. pic.twitter.com/1Rcd3ywyBH
— RedPill Nation (@RedPilled66) March 28, 2023
M. Roy Wilson, President of Wayne State University, released a message to the campus community saying the professor was suspended and referred the social media post to law enforcement agencies.
A message regarding a threatening social media post by a WSU professor https://t.co/5dwY0ldqhR
— Wayne State University (@waynestate) March 27, 2023
From Wayne State:
Dear campus community,
This morning, I was made aware of a social media post by a Wayne State University professor in our Department of English.
The post stated that rather than “shouting down” those with whom we disagree, one would be justified to commit murder to silence them. We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but we feel this post far exceeds the bounds of reasonable or protected speech. It is, at best, morally reprehensible and, at worst, criminal.
We have referred this to law enforcement agencies for further review and investigation. Pending their review, we have suspended the professor with pay, effective immediately.
I wasn’t expecting this announcement at all… https://t.co/1S0Ar0EuTd pic.twitter.com/s4mcmIWO3i
— TheFamousArtistBirdyRose (@TheFamousArtBR) March 27, 2023
WDIV 4 News shared this video report: