College Fix Amplifies AIM Action to Oust U. Washington Researcher After Wishing Conservatives Dead
January 13, 2026
UW spokesperson says the university is investigating, and it ‘denounces violence against all people’
The University of Washington is investigating one of its researchers who left a comment on an X post expressing hopes for more conservative assassinations like Charlie Kirk’s, a spokesperson told The College Fix on Monday.
Mara Maughan, a research scientist for University of Washington’s Fuller Lab, commented “may there be tyler robinsons for you all” on an X post Sunday from school choice activist Corey DeAngelis. The post was about keeping men out of women’s sports.
Robinson is the alleged murderer of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. His case is still awaiting trial.
Maughan later appeared to have deleted the comment, but DeAngelis shared a screenshot on X.
Victor Balta, a UW spokesperson, told The Fix over email that “UW Medicine denounces violence against all people and takes seriously the concerns reported to us regarding this matter.”
Meanwhile, DeAngelis told The Fix via text Monday that he is glad the university is “finally looking into this after the massive public outcry.” But he also believes that “their actions will speak louder than this boilerplate statement that says nothing of substance.”
“… if they truly denounce violence, they’ll take real disciplinary action against Mara Maughan and bring meaningful accountability to prevent such hateful rhetoric from their employees in the future,” he said.
Maughan did not respond to The Fix’s initial email Monday asking about clarifying or retracting the comment. When The Fix sent a follow up email Monday evening, it received a “Message not delivered” reply.
Maughan wrote the comment under a post from DeAngelis discussing biological men who identify as female competing in women’s sports. The post included a video of Washington state Sen. Jamie Pedersen saying he doesn’t “have the scientific expertise” when asked to acknowledge that boys have an athletic advantage over girls.
“This Democrat Senator in Washington says he CAN’T acknowledge that there are biological differences between men and women that would give boys an advantage over girls in sports,” DeAngelis wrote. “Are you kidding me?”
The comments came just before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday on two cases about transgender individuals’ participation in women’s sports.
Maughan uses “she/they” pronouns, according to the UW Fuller Lab website. It is not clear if the researcher identifies as transgender; the Fuller Lab changed its website with Maughan’s bio to one only accessible by university login system sometime between Sunday and Monday.
DeAngelis told The Fix that the “lack of transparency looks like an attempt to sweep the incident under the rug and dodge accountability.”
Notably, Kirk’s alleged assassin also appeared to have motives linked to the transgender issue. Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his transgender roommate, according to The Hill.
Since DeAngelis exposed the comment, Maughan’s social media accounts on Facebook and X appear to have been deleted.
DeAngelis told The Fix that Maughan’s comment “absolutely concerns” him.
“This kind of violent rhetoric from Mara Maughan and far too many others on the left … not only normalizes political violence but fuels a dangerous environment where radical ideologies in academia and beyond threaten our freedoms and safety without accountability,” he said.
He continued, “I’ve seen how the left resorts to these tactics when they’re losing the argument on merits, and it’s high time institutions like UW step up to condemn and discipline such hate to prevent real-world tragedies.”
DeAngelis said he is urging people to contact the University of Washington, a public institution, and “demand accountability for this threat.”
Maughan’s comment went “beyond hateful rhetoric,” and “UW must condemn the statement and hold the employee accountable to maintain any credibility,” he said.
However, Graham Piro, legal defense fund fellow with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said Maughan’s statement likely did not constitute a “true threat.”
“The bar for what constitutes a ‘true threat’ is a high one, and for good reason: The First Amendment provides significant protection for speech that others find offensive, combative, and provocative,” Piro said.
He continued: “Political rhetoric is often heated and filled with references to war and violence. Others can respond to speech they dislike with more speech, not with censorship.”
“To constitute a true threat, speech must be a serious expression of intent to commit an act of unlawful violence against a specific individual or group of individuals. Hyperbolic advocacy for violence alone, without more, is unlikely to meet this high bar,” Piro told The Fix in an email Monday.
But Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media, a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet that DeAngelis is a senior advisor for, told The Fix that the organization is taking action and demanding an apology.
Read the full story here.