Oxford Union says incoming president will face disciplinary proceedings after he sent messages celebrating shooting of Charlie Kirk

The Oxford Union has confirmed its incoming president will face disciplinary proceedings after he sent messages celebrating the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

George Abaraonye, a student at Oxford University who became president-elect of the union after a vote earlier this year, posted several vitriolic comments online in the aftermaths of the shooting in Utah.

Mr Kirk, 31, a Donald Trump ally and co-founder and chief executive of the youth right-wing organisation Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at a Utah Valley University show on Wednesday.

It has been reported that in one message to fellow students in a WhatsApp chat, Mr Abaraonye wrote ‘Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f****** go’, while another on his Instagram account read: ‘Charlie Kirk got shot loool.’

‘Loool’ is an extended version of the acronym ‘lol’ meaning ‘laughing out loud’.

Mr Abaraonye has since deleted the messages and apologised.

The world-famous debating society condemned the incoming president’s ‘inappropriate remarks’ in a statement posted on social media on Saturday. 

‘The Oxford Union has already issued a statement condemning the president-elect’s inappropriate remarks,’ the statement read. ‘We emphasise that these are his personal views and not those of the union, nor do they represent the values of our institution.’

Mr Abaraonye, 20, reportedly posted his message on WhatsApp after the shooting

But the Oxford Union also condemned the ‘racial abuse and threats’ that Mr Abaraonye has received in response.

‘No individual should ever be attacked because of the colour of their skin or the community they come from,’ the statement continued. ‘Threats to his life are abhorrent. Such rhetoric has no place online, or anywhere in society.

‘The Oxford Union has always been one of the world’s foremost defenders of free speech. We will continue to defend freedom of expression in all its forms.

‘But free speech cannot and will not come at the expense of violence, intimidation or hate.’

Although the Union clarified that it ‘does not possess executive powers to sumnarily dismiss a president-elect’, it confirmed that the complaints filed against Mr Abaraonye have been ‘forwarded for disciplinary proceedings and will be addressed with the utmost seriousness’.

The statement added: ‘Our duty is to demonstrate to our members, the university community, alumni and the wider public that disagreement must be expressed through debate and dialogue, not through abuse or threats.

‘That is the tradition we uphold and it is the standard we will continue to set.’

In The Isis, he was recently billed as ‘icon of the week’ and was also described by student peers as ‘the guy who is everywhere and anywhere’ at Oxford

The student relaxes at the Union, where he is due to take over the prestigious presidency 

Mr Abaraonye was also events officer of the University’s Arab Society and founded the HipHopSoc, where he was known as ‘the headphone guy’

Mr Kirk and Mr Abaraonye, a politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) student, met during a debate on ‘toxic masculinity’ held by the Oxford Union in May.

A video of their interaction shows the pair disagreed throughout the debate but the conversation remained civil.

As well as being elected as the next president of the renowned Union, a post previously held by the likes of Boris Johnson and Tony Blair, Mr Abaraonye was also events officer of the University’s Arab Society and founded the HipHopSoc, where he was known as ‘the headphone guy’.

As well as being involved in various societies, Mr Abaraonye has been praised by two prominent student magazines.

In The Isis, he was recently billed as ‘icon of the week’ and was also described by student peers as ‘the guy who is everywhere and anywhere’ at Oxford.

In response to the backlash he has received, Mr Abaraonye told the New Statesman: ‘It is right to call out the insensitivity of my initial reaction. But the irony is not lost on me that many of those now threatening violence and hurling abuse toward me, and toward people who look like me, have shown no interest in holding Charlie Kirk to the same standard when he mocked children killed by gun violence or excused the deaths of women and children abroad.

‘My words were no less insensitive than his—arguably less so; the difference is that I had the humility to recognise when I strayed from my core values, and I addressed it immediately upon reflection.’

Describing itself as ‘the most prestigious debating society in the world’, the Oxford Union was founded in 1823 and counts historical figures including Malcolm X among those to have attended its discussions.

An Oxford University spokeswoman said: ‘The Oxford Union is independent of the university.

‘We deplore comments appearing to endorse violence – they are unacceptable and entirely contrary to the values of our community.’