Johns Hopkins Hospital has placed its director of pediatric cardiac critical care on leave while it investigates anti-Palestinian social media posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) from an account that allegedly belonged to the physician, which has now been deleted.

Dr. Darren Klugman, who is also an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is accused of posting comments that call Palestinians “bloodthirsty morally depraved animals” and appear to call for all Palestinians to be massacred. In screenshots circulating on social media, an X account with Klugman’s name responds to a post about a “large scale slaughter” of the ethnic group with “G-d willing.”

“We at Johns Hopkins share the concern of many about the deeply disturbing social media posts made by a faculty member in the School of Medicine regarding the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The faculty member who made these statements has been placed on leave, and thus will have no interaction with students or patients while we conduct a thorough investigation under our policies and procedures,” said Kim Hoppe, vice president of communications at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in an emailed statement.

“Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins University are committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for working, learning and patient care for every member of our community and all those we serve. Statements that explicitly threaten or extol violence against groups or individuals on the basis of national origin, race or religion violate our policies and do not represent our values,” Hoppe said.

The story continues at The Baltimore Banner: Johns Hopkins unit director on leave following violent anti-Palestinian social media posts

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