JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — East Tennessee State University has put two faculty members on administrative leave pending an investigation into social media comments they made in the wake of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk's murder Monday.

"Both have been placed on administrative leave pending further review," Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jess Vodden wrote in a late afternoon email, acknowledging complaints that had been filed regarding Herrmann and Brown's comments. "Given that this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further at this time."

Acknowledgement of the suspensions of Andrew Herrmann and Russ Brown came hours after ETSU responded to a News Channel 11 query about Herrmann's comments by saying commenting on a personal platform was protected speech. The

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