Student Society Future Leader Ousted Due to Charlie Kirk Posts
The president-elect of the Oxford Union has been removed from his position after failing a no-confidence vote that came after his controversial social media posts about the conservative activist.
The motion against George Abaraonye achieved the necessary two-thirds threshold to oust him from his position, according to an announcement from the organization.
Contentious Posts
The dispute began after Mr Abaraonye reportedly shared messages on social media that seemed to celebrate the killing of the American conservative figure, who was shot dead while addressing a university in Utah.
According to reports, one Instagram post reportedly read "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" - using an elongated version of the acronym for 'laughing out loud'.
The student leader is also reported to have written in a messaging group with fellow students seeming to express approval of the event.
Election Results
The no-confidence motion was conducted over the recent days, with outcomes revealed on Tuesday.
Official notices indicated that over twelve hundred votes were cast supporting no confidence, while just over five hundred were against the motion.
The announcement stated that the president-elect was deemed to have resigned in accordance with the society's regulations.
Election Controversies
Voting operations were temporarily halted early on the previous day after the election official was allegedly subjected to "interference, threats, and inappropriate behavior" from several representatives.
In a statement, Mr Abaraonye claimed that the count had been stopped because electoral officials believed "no valid outcome could be reached as a result of process errors".
His response unequivocally denied that any representative acting for George had participated in intimidating or disruptive behavior.
Ongoing Dispute
The student maintained that significant concerns had been submitted to the disciplinary committee and that he continued as the elected leader.
His comment added that George was "grateful and honored to have the backing of well in excess of a majority of students at Oxford" who voted to have a "safe election and oppose efforts to undermine the electoral process".
Opponents have argued that any failure to remove him would "signal to the world that the Oxford Union has chosen ideology over integrity".
External Reactions
On Friday, Kirk's former chief of staff presented an public message to the Oxford Union on The Charlie Kirk Show podcast.
The letter criticized the society of becoming a institution where "student leaders publicly celebrate the assassination of a political opponent".
The communication warned that if Mr Abaraonye were to remain in post, Kirk's allies would "personally contact every U.S. political figure who has ever graced the union's chamber and advise them against future participation".
The society had earlier condemned the student's remarks after the activist's killing and confirmed that concerns submitted about him had been forwarded for disciplinary proceedings.
The president-elect had been one of several students to discuss with Kirk at the union in May.