A professor at the University of Kansas is on administrative leave after he was captured on camera suggesting society should "shoot" men who won't vote for a female president.
"(If you think) guys are smarter than girls, you've got some serious problems," the male instructor told his class earlier this semester, according to the now-viral video. "That's what frustrates me. There are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don't think females are smart enough to be president. We could line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don't understand the way the world works."
He quickly backpedaled his comments.
Seriously @UnivOfKansas? You’re letting this be said in your classrooms? That men who won’t vote for Kamala Harris for President should be lined up and shot?? @RogerMarshallMD @JerryMoran pic.twitter.com/7hHihxScEg
— Ned Ryun (@nedryun) October 9, 2024
"Did I say that? Scratch that from the recording," he added. "I don't want the deans hearing that I said that."
On Wednesday, the university identified the man in the video as Phillip Lowcock, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Lowcock is listed as a lecturer in the health sport and exercise science department at KU, according to the school directory.
"The university is aware of a classroom video in which an instructor made an inappropriate reference to violence," it said in a statement. "The instructor is being placed on administrative leave, pending further investigation. The instructor offers his sincerest apologies and deeply regrets the situation. His intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women's rights and equality, and he recognizes he did a very poor job of doing so."
The clip, which has garnered 2.6 million views since it was posted Wednesday morning by conservative Ned Ryun, the son of former U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.), caught the attention of Kansas politicians, including Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
"Anyone saying men who don't vote for Kamala Harris should be 'lined up and shot' is deranged and shouldn't be around students nor academia," he wrote on X.
"I trust that the @UnivOfKansas will take immediate action and fire this professor."
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly weighed in, "While healthy political discourse is paramount to our democratic society, violent rhetoric is never acceptable."
"We must strive to make our classrooms a place where diverse viewpoints are respectfully discussed & politics is not weaponized to make our students feel unsafe or demonized for having differing opinions. I appreciate the University of Kansas' swift action to address this matter."
