Durham police chief under fire for comment following death of Charlie Kirk
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews criticized Charlie Kirk on Facebook post.
- Comment sparked public backlash over tone and timing following Kirk’s death.
- Chief accused Kirk of promoting hate speech and undermining Black women.
The chief of the Durham Police Department is receiving backlash for a comment she made regarding the death of influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
On her personal Facebook page, Chief Patrice Andrews expressed outrage at people honoring Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University while hosting an event for Turning Point USA, a conservative organization he co-founded.
Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump, was a polarizing figure who often debated others on matters of climate change, race, police brutality, faith and family values on podcasts and at college campus events. His comments drew criticism from many, who viewed them as hate speech and divisive. Since his death, his supporters and fans have been mourning, while others have been calling out Kirk’s rhetoric and ideology, which critics have deemed racist.
Andrews didn’t name Kirk in her post but said he “disguised” himself as a Christian and “shamed Black women like me, believed that gun violence was necessary to preserve the 2nd Amendment and created a culture of divisiveness through hate speech.”
“At the time of his death, I chose to give him the empathy that he didn't believe in and certainly didn’t believe that people like me deserved,” Andrews wrote.
A screenshot of Andrews’ now-deleted post has circulated on Facebook and X, with some users calling for her resignation and questioning her leadership at the Durham Police Department.
Andrews became Durham’s chief of police in 2021 after serving as chief of the Morrisville Police Department. She became the second Black woman to lead the department and has a law enforcement career that spans over 25 years.
The News & Observer was unable to reach Andrews for comment by phone or email Monday.
In a statement Monday, however, the Durham Police Department said it is aware of the post.
“The post was made on the Chief’s personal account and not on any official City or Police Department platform,” the statement read. “We are reviewing the matter to determine whether any City policies were violated.”
Mayor Leo Williams said he disagrees with what Kirk stood for but believes everyone should be able to express their own views. In a phone call, he told The News & Observer that Andrews had a right to express her views on her personal page, but added that public and elected officials’ words carry weight and are followed more closely.
“I fully support our chief,” Williams said.
Other Durham City Council members said at Monday night’s meeting that they also support the chief. They called for unity in a time of division.
Council member Nate Baker said he is honored to work in a city with a “police chief who holds values consistent with the values of our community.”
Prominent Black women didn’t have ‘brain processing power,’ Kirk said
Video clips of Kirk’s comments about Black people, Muslims, Latinos and George Floyd have circulated online since his death.
In one example, Kirk said political commentator Joy Reid, former First Lady Michelle Obama, then-Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not have the “brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously,” while speaking on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on July 13, 2023.
Kirk called the women “affirmative action picks” who had to “go steal a white person’s slot to be taken somewhat seriously.”
Most recently, Kirk was outspoken about the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, on a light rail train in Charlotte on Aug. 22.
A Black man, DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, was charged in her killing. According to his family, Brown had a history of mental illness, but the incident has sparked conversation about crime and race. On his show, Kirk said Zarutska was murdered because she was white, and that the incident did not get much attention at first because “no one seems to care when a white woman gets stabbed.”
In addition:
- Kirk was critical of gay and transgender rights.
- He was a strong supporter of gun rights and said in 2023, “I think it’s worth [it] to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
- He called civil rights leader The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “awful” and said the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a “huge mistake.”
- He said on X on Sept. 9 that “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”
- He was a proponent of a conspiracy theory that Jews were trying to replace white Americans with nonwhite immigrants.
- “If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified,” Kirk said during a podcast conversation about diversity hiring practices.
- He called Floyd, whose murder by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin sparked a summer of protests in 2020, a “scumbag” and said the reaction to his death was “exaggerated.”
Challenges under fire
Conservative groups and Kirk fans are now promoting a website called “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” with information about people who have commented or even celebrated his death. NPR has documented over 30 people across the country so far who have been fired, investigated, or faced calls to resign because of social media posts criticizing Kirk.
A petition with over 1,000 signatures as of Tuesday has been circulating online demanding Andrews’ resignation. The N&O has contacted the petition starter, listed as Brandon Warren, for a comment. The Durham County GOP has shared the petition on Facebook.
In a statement on Facebook, Williams said, “Challenging or disagreeing with someone’s legacy does not, in fact, condone violence.”
“It is simply an exercise of freedom of speech,” the mayor’s statement read. “After [Andrews’] post, some have become selective about who gets to have freedom of speech and who doesn’t. This is not a ‘shut up and dribble’ moment. This is a Black woman leader who has proven beyond measure that she is more than capable of honorably and effectively leading the largest law enforcement agency in our city.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2025 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Durham police chief under fire for comment following death of Charlie Kirk."
CORRECTION: Charlie Kirk called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “awful” and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “a huge mistake.” An earlier version of this story misstated his comments.