‘#DieTrump’ post by Fresno State instructor goes national. How bad is backlash?

A Fresno State professor who wished death upon U.S. President Donald Trump on social media has caused outrage against the university.

So much so that the CEO of a 9/11 remembrance tour has scrapped plans to bring his memorial exhibit to Fresno State.

In addition, billionaire Elon Musk chimed in on social media in response to the Fresno State instructor’s controversial opinion.

What’s caused so many people to direct anger at Fresno State?

It all started after video circulated on social media of Fresno State part-time lecturer Katherine Shurik being interviewed while protesting next to a Tesla Service Center.

“Trying to get my students here involved as well,” Shurik says in the video after stating she teaches an activist anthropology course at Fresno State. “Next week, they can get extra credit for coming to the protest.”

That video caused some to search for other comments and posts that Shurik might’ve made.

And soon after, different postings from Shurik’s Instagram account surfaced, including a photo-shopped picture of Trump lying in a coffin with three former U.S. presidents and their wives, as well as First Lady Melania Trump, all smiling and standing next to a deceased Trump.

“I have a dream for this to happen much sooner rather than later,” Shurik wrote as a caption to the photo-shopped picture.

Another post from Shurik’s Instagram page, which has since been set on private, showed another photo-shopped picture of a Donald J. Trump cemetery headstone. The president’s date of birth is listed on top, as typical of a tombstone, but in place of an alleged date of death was the expression “Now would be good.”

Shurik wrote a caption to accompany the photo: “And take Musk and the rest of the Nazi (Republican) party members with you too!”

Musk eventually responded on his social media platform X (previously known as a Twitter).

“Calling for the death of a president is a serious crime,” Musk wrote.

Local politician, university responds

While it was unclear if Shurik would actually face any criminal charges, she’s caused quite an uproar directed at both her and Fresno State.

Fresno County Board of Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who’s a Republican, criticized the Fresno State professor while painting with a broad brush concerns of teachers and educators.

“These are the unhinged radicals teaching young kids at schools and universities across the country,” Bredefeld posted on X. “They are hate-filled, radical lunatics and have no business teaching anywhere.”

Fresno State issued a statement about Shurik but didn’t specify whether the university took any disciplinary action for her social media postings and comments.

Fresno State took a similar approach in past years when dealing with backlash after other professors made controversial comments, including calls for the university to terminate them.

“While Fresno State firmly believes in the principles of free speech, we strongly condemn the abhorrent social media posts and comments made by one of our part-time instructors,” Fresno State’s public statement read. “As these views were published by the employee as a private citizen, they do not represent our university in any way.

“Fresno State firmly denounces wishes of death against any elected official, particularly the President of the United States – these go against our core educational values and are not consistent with our Principles of Community.

“As Americans and educators, we pride ourselves on democratic dialogue, not words of derision and contempt about the most important political figure of our country.”

Sept. 11 memorial plans halted

Erick Robertson, CEO of 9/11 Remembered Traveling Memorial, expressed frustration that Fresno State did not take harsher action against the professor. In response, he said his organization halted plans that would’ve brought his traveling memorial exhibit to the central San Joaquin Valley.

The 9/11 Remembered Traveling Memorial, which is a charity organization, travels around the country to educate and showcase artifacts of events from Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States.

Robertson said the tour is booked through 2026.

While the tour never officially booked a stop at Fresno State, Robertson said the parties were in deep talks to make it happen.

But those discussions immediately ended, Robertson said, after he came across the Fresno State professor’s social media postings.

The 9/11 traveling exhibit is comprised of four semi-truck trailers that open to showcase 1,200 square feet of memorial tributes, including pieces from the World Trade Center.

“At this time, we are suspending Fresno State from being in our logistic planning,” said Robertson, who lived in Oakhurst at the time when 9/11 occurred and volunteered to work at Ground Zero with his search-and-rescue canine company.

“Fresno State is still basically defending this person and not expelling this professor. ... What she’s done is what helps create these grass root domestic terrorists. We will never put anyone at our exhibits in danger.”

A message left with Shurik was not immediately returned.

Past controversies with professors

Back in 2018, Fresno State endured a firestorm of criticism after an English professor expressed her displeasure with former president George Bush and his family within an hour of an official announcement that former First Lady Barbara Bush died at the age of 92.

In the aftermath, Fresno State adopted in 2019 “Principles of Community,” a set of guidelines for the behavior of its faculty and staff to foster “an inclusive work and learning environment of respect, kindness, collaboration, and accountability where every member of the student body, faculty, staff, and administration can thrive.”

The guidelines did draw criticism from those who saw it as a means to police speech.

Fresno State faced more criticism in 2023 when a business professor issued a syllabus that asked students to provide their personal pronouns.

Safety at the university became an issue of concern soon after.

FOX26 News reported that a bomb threat evacuation occurred on campus due to the pronouns controversy, via an email that threatened the homes of Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and the business professor.

This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 11:00 AM.