(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The columnist whom the Washington Post fired after she launched a social media tirade against Charlie Kirk following his assassination will be reinstated to her job.
The columnist, Karen Attiah, first joined left-wing activists who showed little mourning, and at times appeared to downplay, Kirk’s assassination, before sharing a quote falsely attributed to the conservative icon.
At the time, Attiah took to Bluesky to seemingly rebuke individuals who condemned Kirk’s murder.
“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,” Attiah wrote.
She also shared a quote falsely attributed to Kirk, in which he purportedly said: “Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot.”
She also flat-out fabricated a quote less than 12 hours after and refused to correct it or take it down. pic.twitter.com/VDu79EEiut
— Dr. Hood Honkie, MD, RN HNIC (@DrHoodHonkeyMD) August 24, 2026
In reality, Kirk’s full quote came as he paraphrased then-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s, D-Texas, comments affirming that affirmative action played a role in her admission to college, according to the LeadStories.
Kirk specifically said: “If we would have said three weeks ago […] that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they’re comin’ out and they’re saying it for us! They’re comin’ out and they’re saying, ‘I’m only here because of affirmative action.’ Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
Kirk then played a clip of Jackson Lee speaking on the House floor and claiming: “I rise today as a clear recipient of affirmative action, particularly in higher education. I may have been admitted on affirmative action, both in terms of being a woman and a woman of color, but I can declare that I did not graduate on affirmative action.”
Attiah made the social media posts in the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s assassination in front of a crowd of supporters at Utah Valley University. At the time, certain individuals were celebrating or downplaying Kirk’s egregious murder while he fielded questions as part of his American Comeback Tour.
The Post fired Attiah following the controversial posts. However, Attiah retained attorneys who claimed the Post had ousted her from her job in violation of her employment contract.
Attiah announced Monday that arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa ordered the Post to immediately reinstate her.
BREAKING:
The Washington Post fired me last year for speaking the truth after Charlie Kirk's killing. I fought back.
I'm happy to announce: I won my case against the Washington Post.
They have been ordered to reinstate me immediately. ✊🏾https://t.co/TISoTvFFO9
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) August 24, 2026
According the New York Times, Miller Espinosa claimed the Post “did not have a good faith and sufficient cause” to terminate Attiah.
“The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,” Miller Espinosa added, a shocking claim given the facts around Attiah’s firing.
The Post said it respected the decision, which also included back pay for Attiah.
The columnist celebrated the decision by positioning herself as a victim of censorship, saying the order “sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.”
Attiah added that she was “willing to go back” to the newspaper.
“This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion writer, and this was wrongful termination,” she continued.
