Oxford debate society leader who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s shooting now apologizing to his family
The former president-elect of the Oxford Union, the debating society at the University of Oxford, is apologizing to Charlie Kirk’s family after previously celebrating Kirk’s death.
After Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University, George Abaraonye, the past president-elect of the Oxford Union, reportedly wrote in a WhatsApp group of Union members: “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f—ing go.” He allegedly posted a similar message on Instagram.
Abaraonye lost a no-confidence vote in October, meeting the two-thirds requirement to remove him from his position.
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“I had very little context for what I was reacting to, but I wanted to start a conversation… I missed the mark… and that’s why I deleted and retracted my comments,” he said, adding that his comments were made before the video of the shooting circulated online.
“As soon as I saw how serious it was, I went on Instagram to apologize,” he said.
Abaraonye, a 20-year-old student studying philosophy, politics and economics at University College, Oxford, told The Times in an article published Friday that he wanted to apologize to Kirk’s family.
“I want to offer my apologies and my condolences,” Abaraonye said. “No one deserves to lose a husband, no child deserves to grow up without a father. I hope that they are able, in some capacity, to move on from what was a tragic event and to that end, I am very sorry.”
Abaraonye was on the committee that brought Kirk to the Oxford Union in May. Abaraonye went head to head with Kirk, and he said that there was “extensive debate” about whether Kirk should be allowed to appear in the first place.
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Abaraonye said Kirk “didn’t exist in a vacuum,” telling The Times that, “He had national influence, he influenced policy decisions in America, he was someone who had almost a direct line to the president. He wasn’t someone who could be ignored.”
He said that his initial comments reacting to Kirk’s assassination were “without nuance and without having done research. I saw a headline and I reacted. I didn’t take into account the nuance or consider that at all when I made the comments.”
He added he received abusive messages online for his comments.
Fox News Digital reached out to Abaraonye for additional comment.
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