UBC looks into prof's social media posts after Trump shooting

The University of British Columbia says it is "aware" of a social media post that was apparently made by a professor at its faculty of medicine shortly after the attempted assassination of former U.S. president Donald Trump.

The school says it is "looking into" the post and that it "does not condone violence of any kind."

Posts that appeared on a now-deleted X account belonging to Prof. Karen Pinder said, "Damn, so close. Too bad," and then later, in response to a comment, "What a glorious day this could have been!"

Pinder did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBC News. She is listed as a professor of teaching at the university's faculty of medicine.

She appeared to be responding to a post from a University of Guelph professor. 

Guelph police report at least one physical threat in response to the social media posts.

"There were some comments that were received by operators at the university, essentially just negative comments," said Guelph police spokesperson Scott Tracey

"The only specific threat that I'm aware of was a threat to cause harm, and it was sent by email from an unknown sender," said Tracey without explicitly naming the professor as the target.

The University of Guelph has released a statement confirming it is investigating the incident.

The UBC professor's posts have generated outrage online, including from B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon who said in a statement, "Celebrating violence of any sort is unacceptable."

In a statement to CBC, Minister of Post-Secondary Education Lisa Beare called Pinder's comments "abhorrent."  

"I am aware that UBC is looking into this matter. I want to be clear that political violence of any kind should never be tolerated," she added. 

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad took to social media to share a screenshot of the post, calling it "disappointing" and saying that "no classroom in this province should have room for this kind of radicalism."

"I was horrified," Rustad told CBC News. "Anybody that is in a position of authority, a position who is responsible for educating our future kids ... radicalization in our schools should not be happening."