Unsurprisingly, given the way the U.S. is going, those who reacted incorrectly to the murder of a far right activist this past week have been losing their jobs, even in academia.  The sheer hypocrisy of the Republican Party when it comes to free speech is really breathtaking.  Like far too many who talk about "free speech," they really only believe in their freedom to say what they want, not anyone else's.

Perhaps more surprisingly, a tenured University of Toronto professor was "suspended" after her own inflammatory remarks on Twitter (remarks that were not, it seems, even about the murder of Mr. Kirk).   As one Canadian faculty member, who called this to my attention, remarked: 

While I find such posts stupid and the sentiment expressed vile, supporting the dangerous climate in America (if violence rules the far-right will win, since it is their game–ask the German communists from the 1920s and -30s), UofTs response is chilling too. If they follow through with a punishment, the value of tenure in Canada would sink–and it could be a foil for cracking down on public speech of professors, especially in the context of the war in the middle East.

University of Toronto faculty are unionized, and I assume the union will defend this professor's right to expression of offensive political views.

CORRECTION:  Philosopher Sergio Tenenbaum writes:  "The faculty at U of T is not unionized. We do have a Faculty association (UTFA) that would be, indeed, the body responsible for representing Faculty and advocating for them in such issues."