UBC prof celebrates Trump assassination attempt, then deletes social media

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A UBC professor is under scrutiny after posting a tweet that appeared to celebrate the assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump, and another that lamented its failure.

“Damn, so close. Too bad,” Karen Pinder, a professor of teaching at UBC’s medical school, posted on X.

“What a glorious day this could have been!” she wrote in a subsequent tweet.

The tweets were published early Saturday. Pinder almost immediately deleted her account, but not before another user named @IR_AMauntie replied, “I reeeeeally wish the person had better aim.”

The exchange has prompted widespread calls for Pinder to be fired.

Kareem Allam, a Vancouver crisis PR expert, said the social media gaffe is potentially politically divisive for British Columbians already feeling the influence of U.S. style culture wars, in the lead up to the fall provincial election.

While B.C. Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both published statements on social media condemning the Trump shooting, Pinder’s tweet was seized upon by B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad.

Rustad said “this kind of radicalism” doesn’t belong in B.C. classrooms, and retweeted the account of someone who called Pinder a monster and demanded she be fired.

“This is why so much hate and violence occurs in British Columbia,” wrote Conservative candidate Chris Sankey in reference to Pinder’s tweet.

In a letter to UBC administrators, McGill medical and PhD student Jamie Magrill expressed concern for conservative UBC students. “How could a medical student from the U.S. who identifies as Republican feel safe in her class? A student who identifies as Conservative?”

Pinder’s tweet could drive Conservative anger in the province, and the party will target the provincial government because, although UBC is independent, it receives substantial provincial and federal funding, said Allam.

“The conservatives are running a populist anti-establishmentarian campaign, and here is a member of an established academic organization seemingly responsible for shaping future decision makers inciting violence or demonstrating gratification of violence,” said Allam.

Although Pinder’s tweet may not represent the university’s point of view, that’s how many are interpreting it and are demanding the university be held accountable, said Allam.

“University professors have a duty to provide context in times of crisis, rather than making divisive comments. What a university professor should be doing is analyzing and providing context, not piling on to what’s going on in the media, and that’s why the outrage is so strong,” said Allam.

Universities, like most employers, have code of conduct policies governing social media use, and Pinder deserves due process within the framework of that policy, said Allam.

The rules for people who are in the public eye are different than they are for those who are connected to high-profile institutions, said Allam.

“We are all entitled to our private thoughts but when you are attached to an institution like a university, you carry a lot of agency and the responsibility is higher.”

Mackenzie Irwin, an employment lawyer with Samfiru Tumarkin LLP’s labour and employment law group, said that although she can’t comment on Pinder’s case directly, employees can be terminated for cause, without severance, if their social media activity contravenes their employer’s social media policy and impacts its reputation.

“Employees need to be very cognizant of their social media use. A breach of social media policy is not necessarily ’cause.’ Cause depends on whether that post is impacting a company’s reputation and good will.”

This impact would be heightened if the employee has a high-profile position, and their social media accounts easily connect them to their employer.

Termination could depend on factors such as whether the institution has a robust social media policy, whether the employee had adequate social media training, and whether they had been given a warning and a chance to improve their behaviour.

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In a statement on Sunday, UBC spokesperson Thandi Fletcher said, “The university is aware of Dr. Pinder’s post and is looking into the matter. The university does not condone violence of any kind.”

UBC would not confirm whether @IR_AMauntie, the account that replied to Pinder, belongs to a UBC researcher, citing the school’s privacy policy.

Postmedia reached out to Pinder and that researcher but did not receive a response.

Trudeau said he was sickened by the shooting, and that “violence is never acceptable.”

Eby expressed similar sentiments, stating in a tweet released shortly after the news broke, “No matter your politics, the attempted assassination of a former president and presidential candidate is horrific. The people of British Columbia abhor political violence in all its forms.”

dryan@postmedia.com