Photo: karenattiah.com
Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah said she was fired over social media posts she made in response to the fatal shooting of conservative figure Charlie Kirk, per HuffPost.
Kirk was shot and killed last week during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. The alleged gunman is currently in custody.
While condemning the killing, Attiah also shared commentary on gun violence, racial double standards, and America’s broader political climate, which she said led to her dismissal.
In a Substack post, Attiah wrote: “I was the last remaining Black full-time opinion columnist at the Post, in one of the nation’s most diverse regions. Washington D.C. no longer has a paper that reflects the people it serves.”
Attiah, who joined The Washington Post in 2014, called her firing part of “a broader purge of Black voices from academia, business, government, and media — a historical pattern as dangerous as it is shameful — and tragic.”
According to Attiah, The Washington Post said her comments constituted “gross misconduct” and endangered her colleagues.
“For the record, my posts were not even about Kirk directly,” she said. “I was fired because I mentioned race: white men and violence ― that was my ‘gross misconduct.’”
The Washington Post declined to comment on personnel matters.
Attiah’s termination comes amid an apparent ideological shift at the outlet. In February, owner Jeff Bezos announced a new editorial mission for the opinion section centered on “personal liberties and free markets.” Former opinion editor David Shipley resigned soon after the announcement. Shipley's replacement, Adam O’Neal, has said the paper would adopt an “unapologetically patriotic” tone and maintain “fundamental optimism” about the U.S.
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