California university lecturer reinstated after remarks about Kirk’s shooting

A California university lecturer has returned to the classroom after being placed on paid administrative leave for saying she wished Charlie Kirk had been killed shortly after he was shot last year.

According to the Fresno Bee, Barri Brennan, a Fresno State University communication lecturer, was back in the classroom on Tuesday, the second day of instruction in the spring semester.

“My classes went well, and I look forward to the rest of the semester,” Brennan told the Bee. 

Fresno State did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The university confirmed to the Bee that Brennan was teaching this semester, but declined to comment further on her return to campus or any investigation into Brennan’s remarks.

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Brennan was captured in a recording on Sept. 10 sharing her thoughts about Kirk’s health condition shortly after being shot and prior to confirmation of his death.

“You want to know what I think? It’s too bad he’s not dead,” Brennan said. “Gonna put my political views right out there. And that’s exactly what I thought. He’s just shot? I was like, he’s not dead? I don’t even know who he is. Just a description of him. Don’t care.”

The comments were reportedly made during an informal and private conversation.

Kirk was shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was pronounced dead later that day.

One student in Brennan’s class, Lara Habib, told The Collegian that the incident “felt very uncomfortable” and that students reacted with awkward pauses and uncertainty.

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“Her comments, made after Kirk had been shot but before news of his death had been confirmed by authorities, were made during an informal, private conversation prior to the start of a class and were secretly recorded. Portions of the discussion were later posted to social media,” the Bee reported.

The university posted a statement on its website condemning the comments shortly afterward.

“Fresno State is aware of a video circulating online that appears to record a lecturer making a disturbing comment about the death of Charlie Kirk. The university has launched an immediate investigation into this incident,” the university said.

“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any language that celebrates or condones violence. Such remarks are antithetical to our values at Fresno State,” they added.

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Following the statement, Brennan was placed on leave. She is under contract through May 2027, according to the Bee. Upon returning to Fresno State, according to the report, she changed the course syllabus to disallow using electronic recording devices.

Brennan wrote about the incident last October for the Bee, saying she “never intended to mean anything beyond an opinion; however distasteful some might find it.” She spoke critically of the unnamed student who recorded her, saying it was illegal.

“What that student did by illegally recording me in class sullies the academic classroom experience for both students and faculty. I concede that my words did not represent my best self, but what that student did to the integrity of the classroom experience was far more nefarious,” she wrote.