A Fresno State lecture is catching heat for her public support for growing protests at Fresno’s newly-opened Tesla dealership and for public comments wishing death on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The woman, Katherine Shurik, is a lecturer in Fresno State’s Anthropology Department within the College of Social Sciences.
The big picture: A video of Shurik circulated on X over the weekend where she was attending a protest at the Fresno Tesla dealership on Saturday.
- Shurik identified herself as an anthropologist and a professor in the video, saying that she is trying to start a chapter of the National Organization for Women in Fresno.
- Shurik said in the video that she teaches an activist anthropology course and offers extra credit for her students if they attend a protest.
Professor from @FresnoSt California State University Fresno, Katherine Shurik is giving her students extra credit for attending the take down Tesla protest.
Your tax dollars are going to leftist professors giving their students extra credit for protesting Tesla.
Can we do… pic.twitter.com/mTHDKjaXSb— Oreo Express (@OreoExpress) March 30, 2025
Go deeper: Along with the video, two social media posts that Shurik made also circulated on X.
- One was with a photo of Trump laying in a casket, with Melania Trump, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, George Bush and Laura Bush standing behind the casket while smiling for a picture.
- “I have a dream for this to happen much sooner rather than later. #FelonTrump #TraitorTrump #RapistTrump #DieTrump #TrumpDead,” Shurik wrote on an Instagram post from Jan. 11. The post was still up as of Monday morning.
- The second was a post on Facebook where Shurik shared an image of a tombstone for Trump with the date of death reading “now would be good.” Shurik wrote on the post, “And take Musk and the rest of the Nazi (Republican) party members with you too!” All of her Facebook posts appeared to have been deleted as of Monday morning.
What they’re saying: Fresno State issued the following statement on Monday condemning Shurik’s posts: “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. 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.”
A source shared a message from Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval on LinkedIn, responding to a question about Shurik’s posts.
- “Thank you. My team will see if the posting has any connections to Fresno State, or if it’s a personal posting. If personal, we can let her know that this is not acceptable, but will not be able to enforce any of our principles. If it were a LinkedIn, she has clearly associated with Fresno State and is representing the institution with her profile. Either way, we’ll communicate with her. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
- Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said on X that people like Shurik have no business teaching students anywhere.
- “Fresno State professor posting about her longing for the deaths of Pres Trump, Musk and Republicans,” Bredefeld wrote. “These are the unhinged radicals teaching young kids at schools and universities across the country. They are hate-filled, radical lunatics and have no business teaching anywhere.”
Flashback: Fresno State has a history of its professors making controversial and inflammatory remarks about Republicans.
- In 2017, American history lecturer Lars Maischak called for Trump to be hanged to save American democracy.
- Maischak was suspended by Fresno State for a semester after his comments.
- One year later, English professor Randa Jarrar celebrated the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush, saying on Twitter at the time that she was “happily dancing on the grave of someone I despise.” Jarrar also said Bush was an “amazing racist” who “raised a war criminal.”
- Jarrar was not suspended by the university for her comments, and both faculty members are still listed on Fresno State’s staff directory.
