A University of North Florida professor was fired Tuesday for comments he made in class relating to the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk in September.

The professor, Jacob McElroy, was a visiting instructor in the UNF English department. McElroy’s termination letter from the provost alleges that he threatened to “f___’n shoot everyone” in his freshman English class and claims that McElroy made several other serious threats. However, McElroy and at least two student witnesses say this was all a big misunderstanding. 

On Sept. 11, McElroy set aside class time to discuss Charlie Kirk, the right-wing influencer who had been assassinated a day earlier at Utah Valley University. According to McElroy, this was a relevant discussion for his Writing for Audience and Purpose class. Students of McElroy have said his classes often feature debates and discussions about current events, so this wasn’t out of the ordinary.  According to McElroy and at least two students, he repeatedly contextualized his comments as jokes or examples, and they were not intended to be taken literally. 

Communication obtained by Spinnaker shows that one of McElroy’s students submitted a complaint and an accompanying audio recording of the in-class comments he made on Sept. 11. A week later, the professor was escorted out of his class by at least three UNF police officers, according to McElroy and student witnesses. McElroy said police questioned him about what he said in class and said it was their job to determine whether he had seriously threatened any students. 

“I explained that I had told jokes within context and that students seemed to understand them as jokes and that I was surprised by all of this,” McElroy said.

After being questioned, McElroy said he was taken back to his office to gather his things and was then escorted by police to his car. According to McElroy, police told him that the provost’s office was placing him on leave while they continued the administrative part of the investigation. 

Spinnaker is working to obtain any available records related to the investigation of McElroy, including the referenced audio recording of the comments.

Later that same day, McElroy received notice from Provost Karen Patterson that he was not allowed to contact any UNF students, faculty or staff, or visit campus until the investigation was complete.

In the notice to McElroy on Sept. 18, Patterson wrote, “This action is being taken because of a complaint that on or about September 11, 2025, you told your class, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to shoot you’; ‘We’re all going to start shooting each other. It’s gonna be great. We’re all gonna f***n’ John Nuke this joint up’; ‘I keep sexually harassing students, and I keep shooting them.’ The University takes these allegations seriously and will be conducting an investigation.”

In more recent communication, Patterson cited different comments as the reason for McElroy’s termination. She also makes reference to the fact that Sept. 11 was a “day after tragic gun violence,” which may refer to either or both Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University or the shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado that same day. 

In the official termination notice, Patterson wrote, “On September 11, 2025, a day after tragic gun violence, you repeatedly told your ENC 1101 class (Writing for Audience and Purpose) that you were going to shoot them. In one instance, you directly told a student that you were going to shoot that particular student for asking a question. You also told the class that you had access to guns and were ‘crazy’ and that you would ‘f___’n shoot everyone.’ You continued in a rambling and incoherent fashion for an extended period, at one point telling your class that you sexually harassed students and would “every now and then” fail a student ‘just for fun,’

McElroy provided a personal statement to Spinnaker explaining his perspective on the comments. He said he wanted to hold a class discussion about why violence is an unacceptable response to disagreeing with another’s political views, in light of Kirk’s assassination the day prior.

“I used a theatrical and ironic approach to depict what a bad teacher would say in such times. I often use humor and swearing as pedagogical tools for emphasis, and in this particular case, after telling the students that what I was saying was all in the form of a sort of ironic hypothetical, I briefly portrayed “myself” as a violent maniac who is also such a terrible teacher that he would harass students and fail them on a whim. There were some chuckles, some more class discussion, and things moved on. The things I repeated most often in this discussion, however, were how sad it must be for Kirk’s children and how we should all be able to reasonably expect to go about our lives and speak our minds without being shot,” McElroy said.

Patterson cited “incompetence,” rather than misconduct as the just cause required to terminate McElroy under the faculty union’s bargaining agreement. McElroy said he doesn’t understand how his behavior demonstrates incompetence.

Natalia Smith, a student who was in the class when McElroy made these comments, said it was obvious that McElroy was joking and didn’t remember anything threatening.

“It was clearly a joke, but I also think he shouldn’t have said it,” Smith said. 

Another student who was there that day, Emma Prestano, also said it was clear that McElroy was joking. 

“He was completely joking,” Prestano said. “He stated that he was joking multiple times.”

“In our class, we deeply discuss rhetoric. That’s why we do all the debates and discussions like this,” Prestano said. 

McElroy himself echoed this, explaining that he often uses in-class theatrics to emphasize what not to do in an argument, or how not to approach opinions that differ from one’s own. 

“I try to foster an atmosphere where [students] can express themselves,” McElroy said.

McElroy added that he always warns his classes at the beginning of each semester that his teaching style is largely based on open discussion about current events. 

“If I have any reputation that precedes me, it’s that I talk about controversial subjects in class,” McElroy said.

Before being fired, McElroy wrote a letter to the provost apologizing for his actions and listing positive student testimonials. He also said that when meeting in person with the provost he expressed the same sentiment.

“I have spent many hours reflecting on my own intentions and behaviors. First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest and most sincere apologies for my actions. I regret them and would take them back if I could,” McElroy wrote. “I do not believe this single lapse in judgment defines me as a person or as a professional. I remain a dedicated teacher who loves my job and my students, and I believe my performance history at UNF reflects that.”

Although Patterson acknowledges in the termination notice that she received this message from McElroy, she wrote that McElroy “did not demonstrate self-reflection or sincere remorse.”

Patterson did not respond to Spinnaker’s request for comment by the time of publication. 

McElroy earned his master’s degree at UNF in 2013 and taught as an adjunct instructor for five years before taking a short period of time off to be a stay-at-home dad. He returned to UNF last summer and began working as a visiting instructor just a few months ago. 

“Working at UNF has always been a source of pride for me, but this current administrative issue threatens to diminish that. My colleagues support me, the union will help me with any appeals procedures and legal approach that may be necessary, but it’s my students that are keeping me going. After all, I do my job for them, not for the provost,” McElroy said. 

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