An independent arbitrator ruled on Monday that The Washington Post must rehire a journalist terminated for crude comments about Turning Point Founder and CEO Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination. 

A judge found Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist at the publication, to be a victim of wrongful termination. 

In a statement from her attorney, Attiah said, “This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion journalist, and doing that job is not misconduct. After spending over a decade of my career at the Post as an editor and an opinion columnist focusing on race, gender and global human rights, I’m relieved to finally have that record set straight.”

On September 10, 2025, the same day Kirk was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University, Attiah posted to the social network Bluesky, “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence.”

Another post read, “If anything, the rush to coddle violent white men is self-protective — that we know they are not used to feeling vulnerable and mortal — and will react violently out of fear. And we will all suffer.” An additional post said, “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.”

The next day, Attiah received a letter of termination from the Post that described her posting as “gross misconduct.” “Your public comments on social media regarding the death of Charlie Kirk violate the Post’s social media policies, harm the integrity of our organization, and potentially endanger the physical safety of our staff,” read the letter. 

The arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinoza, recounted in her case record that the Post’s opinion editor at the time, Adam O’Neal, emailed the publication’s human resources department on the morning of September 11 to express frustration over Attiah’s posts. O’Neal described the posts as “beyond the pale — completely unacceptable for someone associated with Opinions.”

In a hearing for the case, O’Neal testified that Attiah’s behavior was threatening to the Post. 

“People were at this intense moment of violence in America, and we didn’t know what was coming next,” he said. “And we’re walking into a building that says Washington Post on top of it, and here there’s a columnist at Washington Post on this account that’s making these horrific comments, and that was of deep security concern beyond the professional — beyond the publication standards and our policies.”

On her Substack, Attiah expressed a sense of vindication that the arbitrator took issue with the Post’s firing of her. “Women journalists, and particularly Black women journalists who cover anything related to race, politics or gender, statistically receive more hate and abuse online. The Post’s logic would impose a double burden on us, not only to be subject to that abuse, but to be held responsible for the threats against us — to the point where we could be terminated,” she penned. 

“I am glad the arbitrator rejected this logic and reminded the Post — and all media houses — of their responsibility not to bend to bad-faith actors and to protect their journalists.”

The Washingtonian reported on Tuesday that Attiah has not been contacted by The Washington Post since it was ordered to rehire her.