Two days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, the University of Wyoming student newspaper published two stories about the conservative activist who had only visited Laramie’s campus a few months earlier.
The first was a news story, while the second was an opinion column. Both were written by Charles Vaughters, the editor-in-chief of The Branding Iron.
As has occurred in communities across the United States in the days following Kirk’s death, they would elicit outrage and debate over free speech amid growing concerns about political violence. And the vitriol, at least in Wyoming, would not end with the Brandon Iron.
In the editorial, Vaughters described his visit to the University of Washington with Kirk in April.
“During the entirety of the event, Kirk repeatedly stressed that he only wanted what was best for America, and I believed him,” Vaughters recalled.
The student journalist, who voted for Trump, stated that while he and Kirk “may have had some disagreements on certain policy issues,” he believed “the man was genuine in his belief that he was doing what was right for the country.”
The same day Vaughters sat down to write his editorial, he wrote, the paper polled students on campus about Kirk’s death. “Most were sympathetic, and you can read their quotes in this very paper,” Vaughters said.
One student, however, was particularly perplexed by the paper, Vaughters reported. The student, “who repeatedly refused to identify themselves, basically stated that this was a good thing.” That Charlie Kirk deserved to die because he held fascist and racist beliefs.”
“We found that absolutely disgusting,” Vaughters wrote, adding that the paper does “not condone any acts of political violence” and prides itself “on including opinion pieces from writers on every side of the political aisle, should they want to get their voices out there.”
Vaughters finished by asking readers to pray for Kirk.
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus took to social media shortly after the paper was printed and distributed on campus. The group represents the far right wing of the Republican Party, and its members control the Wyoming House of Representatives.
“Why does the UW student newspaper promote students who support political assassinations? “This level of disregard for human life is dangerous and unacceptable,” the caucus wrote on Facebook and X.
The Facebook post, in particular, sparked a sprawling, and at times contentious, virtual debate. More than 500 comments piled up, with many debating the limits of free speech. Some cited the University of Wyoming’s perceived political leanings as a reason for their decision to withdraw their support. Several commenters agreed with the caucus’ criticism of the paper.
Others focused on an unnamed student. Some demanded that the student be identified, expelled, monitored, and have their gun rights revoked. Others argued that the student should be free to express their opinions.
Quote sparks more controversy
The following day, another virtual cycle began.
After the Cowboy State Daily, the state’s largest news organization, published a story about the student paper and campus reactions to Kirk’s death, the Freedom Caucus singled out a graduate student who was quoted in the story and posted her photo on its social media pages.
“Charlie Kirk, in his heart, thought he was doing the right thing, but I think he also spread a lot of horrible rhetoric,” the graduate student told Cowboy State Daily. “I’m not happy to see him murdered in front of his family at all, but I’m also aware that I think I was happy to have his voice out of the spotlight.”
(The graduate student and the editor-in-chief declined WyoFile’s request for interviews.)
Again, hundreds of comments poured in, divided on the issue of free speech and what, if any, consequences the student should face. Some were outraged by the student and wondered why the public would pay for the salary of someone with her views. Others, including staunch Republicans, saw the need to protect speech as more important than whether they thought it was callous.
“I’m not sure why the Freedom Caucus wants to vilify speech. “I mean, really struggling,” one commenter wrote. “I’m a staunch conservative.
A staunch constitutionalist. The Republican Party is usually too centrist for me, but this is crazy! I mourned CK as well. But this isn’t the answer. It’s as if we’re doxing people for rhetoric we disagree with in order to effectively ‘cancel’ them. “Does this sound like any other party we know?!”
As a conservative activist, Kirk rose to prominence in part by criticizing the country’s higher education system for policing conservative speech and creating an out-of-control cancel culture.
He was best known for visiting college campuses and inviting students and faculty to publicly question and debate him.
In 2016, he also launched an online watchlist targeting university professors who allegedly “discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”
UW and the Freedom Caucus
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ Facebook posts about The Branding Iron and the graduate student were not the first time they criticized the University of Wyoming. In fact, the group has a long history of challenging the state’s only four-year public university.
In late 2022, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus criticized the university for revoking a church leader’s tabling privileges after he named a transgender student in a sign in the Wyoming Union breezeway.
“It is clear that the University of Wyoming has impermissibly silenced the protected speech of a Wyoming citizen,” the caucus stated at the time. “The Wyoming Freedom Caucus will not allow Wyoming’s only land-grant university to succumb to the cancel mob.” “The University of Wyoming’s recent actions are out of step with the people of our state.”
In the statement, the caucus also mentioned the 2023 session as an opportunity for “our caucus, along with other likeminded legislators, to closely examine how the University of Wyoming spends public dollars.” The session will also enable the legislature to exercise meaningful oversight of the university.”
Two years later, the Legislature voted to reduce the school’s block grant and prohibit it from using that money for its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. More recently, Freedom Caucus members have expressed a desire to have more say over the school’s spending as part of their plans to “DOGE” the state budget.
When asked how concerned the Freedom Caucus is about free speech on the UW campus, the group’s chair, Cody Republican Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, told WyoFile in a statement that “the right of these troubled students to celebrate Charlie Kirk’s murder does not limit the right of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus to call them out for it.”
“Students are free to say what they want — and we are free to call out any state employee who supports political assassinations,” she tweeted. “It is entirely consistent with the First Amendment to point out that Wyoming taxpayers are paying someone who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Doing so is a manifestation of freedom itself.”
Comments and firings
What’s happening in Laramie is a reflection of a larger trend. Across the country, many Republicans are carrying out a campaign to expose and punish those whose comments on Kirk are deemed inappropriate.
According to PBS NewsHour, numerous professionals, including government employees, teachers, and college professors, have lost their jobs as a result of posting critical comments about Kirk.
“If you see anyone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out. “And hell, call their employer,” Vice President JD Vance said while hosting The Charlie Kirk Show podcast on Monday. “We believe in civility rather than political violence. “The celebration of political assassination lacks civility.”
Firings have been reported in a variety of professions. One of the more high-profile dismissals occurred this week when Disney removed late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the airwaves after he commented on Kirk’s accused assassin.
Cartoon provokes backlash
Closer to home, at least two local businesses in Lander have faced harassment for online comments posted by their owners. In Jackson, the local newspaper company temporarily closed its doors after a syndicated cartoon printed in its weekend edition of the Jackson Hole Daily sparked outrage.
“Our front office door is locked,” read a sign on Teton Media Works’ door earlier this week, which serves as the umbrella company for both the Jackson Hole News&Guide and the Jackson Hole Daily.
“After receiving multiple threats of violence against our employees, we will be glad to assist you via phone or email.”
The publication removed the cartoon from its digital edition, and one of its editors apologized to readers, explaining that they understood the cartoon “to suggest that Kirk’s assassination might be a turning point in our nation’s divide,” as well as “as a statement that the United States is at a turning point as a nation, where political violence is escalating at an alarming rate.”
The company’s owners also issued a letter to readers on Wednesday.
“Going forward, we will use this breach of trust to ensure that everything we do reflects our publishing principles: seek the truth and report it. Minimize harm. Act independently. “Be accountable and transparent,” the letter says. “We have changed internal content review, and we have re-engineered editing processes to uphold these values.”
Chip Bok, the right-wing cartoonist who created the cartoon, took a different tone in response to outrage in other states where his cartoon was published in local newspapers.
“My primary goal as a cartoonist is to promote free speech. “That made Charlie Kirk my type of guy,” Bok wrote on his website.
“Here’s my apology: I’m sorry Charlie Kirk isn’t around to give these guys a free speech lesson.”
The Wyoming Democratic Party warned Thursday of a crackdown on free speech.
“Free speech is a core American value—and one that Charlie Kirk himself championed,” the party stated in a press release. “That’s why, even as we condemn the horrific shooting in the strongest possible terms, we cannot stand by while politicians in Washington and here in Wyoming use this tragedy to crack down on free speech.”
The party also accused the Freedom Caucus of turning “this tragedy into a McCarthy-style witch hunt” by targeting the student newspaper and a graduate student.
“It will take all of us, across the political spectrum pushing back to protect our constitutional rights,” the Democrats wrote in a statement.
Some proposed a simple solution, one frequently advocated by Kirk himself: more speech.
In Tuesday’s episode of Wide Right Turn, one of the state’s conservative podcasts, host Joey Correnti and Sheridan Republican Rep. Tom Kelly expressed their horror at “those celebrating and rationalizing the assassination,” as well as their disappointment at “those on the right espousing a desire for revenge.”
“Put the rage away,” Kelly advised. “Do what Charlie would have wanted you to do, and keep talking.”
