Camryn Booker #

Introduction #

Camryn Giselle Booker is an 18-year-old American student who was enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock until she was arrested on an assault charge and removed from the school after videos showed her taunting mourners at a campus vigil for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist assassinated in Utah earlier that week. The confrontation was filmed by attendees, spread rapidly across social media, and drew public posts from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who shared a photo of Booker in handcuffs and thanked the university. Texas Tech confirmed to Newsweek that Booker is “no longer enrolled at Texas Tech University,” while several posts — including the one that first circulated the clips — said she had been expelled. The assault charge is an accusation, not a conviction: Booker is presumed innocent, and no court finding is reported; the account of what happened rests on viral videos and statements from campus police and the county sheriff.

Background Information #

Booker was an 18-year-old student at Texas Tech University when the incident occurred, according to an Indian Express report citing Fox News. The vigil she walked into was held for Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, who was fatally shot on a Wednesday during a question-and-answer session at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The assassination set off a 33-hour manhunt that ended late Thursday night with the arrest of Tyler Robinson, identified as the sole suspect, after relatives and a family friend alerted law enforcement that he had made self-incriminating remarks about the crime; he was taken into custody without incident. Reactions to the killing quickly became a national flashpoint, with pilots, teachers, and professors among those fired or suspended for discussing it online; Reuters reported at least 15 people had lost their jobs or been suspended over posts about Kirk, while NPR put the figure at 33.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Mourners had gathered at Texas Tech on a Friday to hold a vigil for Kirk when Booker was seen in viral footage shouting at students near the university’s Student Union Building. In the widely shared video, Booker can be heard yelling: “F–k y’all, your homie dead, he got shot in the head.” In another clip, she argues with a man in a red “Make America Great Again” hat who filmed her and described her behavior as “evil.” In the clip, the man tells her, “Evil is real people, and it kind of looks like that,” before pointing the camera at Booker. A separate snippet shows Booker and the person recording her asking each other, “Why are you so hateful?”

In the same video, a woman tells Booker she is “being emotional,” and the person recording says she is “being aggressive” — claims Booker denied. “I’m not being aggressive,” she replied. “My voice is very calm. You’re calling me aggressive because I’m a Black woman.” The Texas Tech Police Department confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying the incident occurred in the designated free speech area on campus.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Florida’s Voice journalist Eric Daugherty shared a compilation of the clips on X, which Governor Abbott commented on; in a separate post, Abbott shared a photo of Booker being handcuffed and wrote: “This is what happened to the person who was mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Texas Tech. FAFO.” Abbott followed up on Sunday, September 14, writing on X: “Definitely picked the wrong school to taunt the death of Charlie Kirk. Thanks Texas Tech.”

According to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, Booker was arrested and charged with one count of assault, a Class C misdemeanor — the lowest-level criminal offense in Texas. She was transported to the county jail, booked, and later released on a $200 bond on Saturday afternoon. Texas Tech confirmed that the “referenced individual is no longer enrolled at Texas Tech University.” “Any behavior that denigrates victims of violence is reprehensible, has no place on our campus, and is not aligned with our values,” a university spokesperson said. The school added that “Federal law prevents Texas Tech University from commenting on individual student conduct matters” but that it takes “all reported violations seriously and address them under university policy and the law.” Booker’s representatives declined to comment when contacted by Fox News.

Current Status #

Booker faces a Class C misdemeanor assault charge in Lubbock. The charge is an accusation, she is presumed innocent, and no plea or trial outcome has been reported; what is known of the confrontation comes from the videos themselves and from law-enforcement statements. Texas Tech has confirmed only that she is no longer enrolled and, citing federal law, will not discuss individual student conduct matters — so whether her departure was a formal expulsion or a withdrawal has not been officially confirmed by the university, though the governor and several widely shared posts have described it as an expulsion. More broadly, employers and government officials have signaled that they will continue to investigate and, in some cases, discipline people who publicly celebrate Kirk’s killing.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

In a matter of days, Booker went from being an 18-year-old student to a nationally circulated figure — filmed, arrested, charged, and out of the university before the week was over, with the governor of Texas publicizing a photo of her in handcuffs. Her case became one of the most prominent examples in a wave of consequences for people who mocked Kirk’s death, a list that includes pilots, teachers, and professors, with news agencies counting dozens of people fired or suspended. The videos remain attached to her name online, and her case continues to feed a debate over the limits of online speech, the treatment of Black women’s expressions of anger, and how universities should respond when students denigrate victims of violence.