George Abaraonye, the ousted president-elect of the Oxford Union, has revealed he received "threats of violence" following a controversy over comments he made appearing to celebrate the shooting of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr Abaraonye, who became president-elect of the historic debating society earlier this year, faced widespread criticism for remarks posted after Mr Kirk was shot dead at a Utah Valley University event in September, an incident US authorities described as a political assassination.
Mr Kirk, 31, was an ally of US President Donald Trump and a co-founder and chief executive of the right-wing youth organisation Turning Point USA.
The Times reported that Mr Abaraonye wrote "Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f****** go" in a WhatsApp message to fellow students, and posted "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" on his Instagram account.
Mr Abaraonye has since expressed remorse, telling The Times he was "very sorry" for his comments and wished to apologise directly to Mr Kirk’s family.
Speaking to LBC on Sunday, he accepted "fair criticism" of his remarks but also highlighted the "racist and classist vitriol" he had received as a Black student at Oxford.
He stated: "I received threats of violence. My family did, my friends did and it was a very difficult time, not just for me, but also realising that my mistake has not only impacted my life but could impact other people’s lives and impact even just broader communities around me."
On Times Radio, Mr Abaraonye acknowledged that some of Mr Kirk’s rhetoric perpetuated "harmful stereotypes towards black people”, but argued this made it even more crucial to engage him in open, public forums.
He added: "I disagreed with him. I thought his views were harmful. But he did not deserve to die. No one deserves to be a victim of political violence because of the opinions they hold."
A no-confidence vote against Mr Abaraonye at the Oxford Union passed last month. Following the vote, he claimed the poll was "compromised" by "untested" regulations and alleged that campaigners seeking his removal had "unsupervised access" to the email account collecting proxy votes.
The Oxford Union has since denied these claims, asserting the poll was not compromised.
