The University of Alabama continues to ignore calls to action, including the most recent from U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), refusing to follow the lead of colleges and universities around the nation who have taken immediate steps to address harmful statements and rhetoric on their campus and in their classrooms, to address journalism professor A.J. Bauer.
Also, unlike a similar controversy at Clemson University, lawmakers in Alabama have been mum on possible courses of action.
Bauer, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama, took to social media to blame Charlie Kirk's assassination on conservatives. He promoted a widely debunked fringe theory that Charlie Kirk's killer was conservative.
"This right on right violence is out of control," he declared.
Shortly after, conservatives, including C.J. Pearson and Katherine Robertson, who is running for Attorney General, reposted his comments. Bauer changed the privacy settings for his X account and BlueSky accounts.
SEE ALSO: RNC Youth Advisory Council co-chair CJ Pearson hosting Charlie Kirk rally at University of Alabama
1819 News downloaded his Bluesky history and provided it to the University of Alabama in a request for comment on Saturday. That request and two subsequent requests have been ignored as the voices calling for the university to take action grow.
Tuberville reposted the original 1819 story with a message, "Absolutely ridiculous. @UofAlabama, fire him."
Absolutely ridiculous.@UofAlabama, fire him.https://t.co/zlb1W4sSMx
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) September 15, 2025
Tuberville's message has been reposted hundreds of times and has over 37,000 views.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) said in an interview over the weekend, "And then when you talk about what's happening online, Maria, it is absolutely disgusting. The rhetoric that led us to this moment, calling President Trump a fascist, calling him Hitler, you had news organizations and mainstream media celebrating that, allowing those things to take place and be said on their networks. That is dangerous. When you look at that, when you look at where we are, when you look at how we got here, now people that are celebrating Charlie's murder, celebrating a political assassination, that should never happen in the United States of America. And, Maria, we must do more. We must stand firm. And there must be consequences with regards to people spewing that type of hate and celebration in the face of this."
"And I believe that there will be," Britt added. "And I certainly plan to hold them accountable. So, if you are out there and you are celebrating the political assassination of a man who is exercising his free speech, a very foundational element, a cornerstone of who we are as the United States of America, you should be held accountable. You should be fired. And that is the beginning and the end of it, full stop."
As conservatives watched vile messages and threats flood in from across the nation from those celebrating Kirk's death and wishing for more like it, Bauer told NBC News, "In my view, this increases the likelihood of vigilante violence against people who are not supporters of the right, Bauer said in a quote that cites his position at the University of Alabama," adding," I think it's a very dangerous time to not be an ardent supporter of right-wing politics in the United States."
Bauer's timeline includes messages and reposts, such as a recent one about President Donald Trump providing National Guard support to protect Washington, D.C.
"This is the sort of diction that normalizes fascism. It's disgusting and unethical," he wrote.
He posted, "The right's goal is to end liberal democracy, the foundation of mainstream journalism. Journalists should put stifling the right ahead of traditional news judgment out of a sense of institutional self-protection."
Bauer has not only posted hateful rhetoric on his online social media accounts, but he has also used his position at the university to amplify his voice in mainstream media and through writing.
He has published rantings against conservative values, which include the university's name on materials that compare President Trump's actions to those of the Nazis. In the same paper, he states, "Trumpism starts with 'solutions' consistent with its racist and xenophobic worldview..."
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