JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacob McElroy, who teaches English at the University of North Florida, faces termination following allegations that he made contentious statements during a lecture in September.

The remarks in question emerged during a class discussion centered around the assassination of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk the previous day. McElroy contends that the purpose of the discussion was to examine rhetoric and the influence of language through a dramatic and ironic lens.

“I sometimes adopt a certain persona during lessons,” McElroy explained. “In this instance, I was embodying an ironic, hypothetical professor who behaves inappropriately. It was meant to provoke thought on how such a figure might respond in this scenario.”

The university’s termination letter, dated Oct. 28, accuses McElroy of “incompetence” and claims he repeatedly threatened violence against students during his lecture. The letter details an incident where he allegedly told a student he would shoot him for posing a question and informed the class of his access to firearms, stating he would “f—’n shoot everyone.”

McElroy told First Coast News the comments were made casually as part of the lesson and acknowledged the approach was a mistake.

“I said it so casually, and there were a few chuckles, and we kind of moved on and discussed it largely as a class,” he said. “I felt regretful about it. I wish that I hadn’t somehow convinced that student that I was speaking in earnest. I do wish that I had done a better job of conveying to them that they were safe in my classroom, as all students should feel.”

The university said it conducted a full investigation and found no evidence of effective teaching, stating McElroy’s continued employment would jeopardize student safety.

McElroy said the students are his priority and he wants to return to the classroom.

“I have to get back in the classroom,” he said. “It’s so unfair that this has happened to all of them, and as much as I would love to apologize in person to the student who says they felt threatened, I would also love to apologize to all of my other students who now, you know, this one semester out of their whole college experience, they’re going to remember for all the wrong reasons. And to have their freshman English class so disrupted, it’s not great for their development as writers.”

McElroy’s last day at the university is expected to be Dec. 17. He said he is challenging his termination through the faculty grievance process.

“As much as I made a mistake in my choice of words that particular day, I think that UNF is making a mistake in terminating me early,” he said. “And just as much as I would like a chance to fix my mistake, I hope that they take a chance to fix theirs.”