LOUISVILLE, KY — A Bellarmine University professor, John James, is no longer employed at the university following a suspension for an “offensive and unacceptable” social media post. The post, which appeared over the weekend, featured a comment by James saying, “If you’re gonna shoot, man, don’t miss,” alongside a screenshot of an article about an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The post quickly went viral after being shared by Libs of TikTok on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Jason Cissell, the assistant vice president for communication at Bellarmine, confirmed the authenticity of the screenshot and stated that James was initially placed on unpaid administrative leave on Monday. By Tuesday, Cissell announced that James was no longer associated with the university, though he did not specify whether James was terminated or had resigned.
In a related incident, the university received a bomb threat Monday evening. While initially thought to be connected to the controversial post, the Louisville Metro Police Department later deemed the threat not credible.
