Police investigate flyers at Georgetown recruiting for far-left gun group tied to violence

Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. / Credit: Rob Crandall/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 25, 2025 / 17:18 pm (CNA).

United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced that police are investigating a number of posters displayed on Georgetown University’s campus that appear to be recruiting students for a leftist gun club linked to violence. 

“I am aware of the appalling posters that were displayed on Georgetown’s campus today,” McMahon wrote in a post to the social media platform X on Sept. 24. 

The flyers found around the Jesuit campus advertise for students to “Join the John Brown Gun Club,” a left-wing and “anti-fascist” extremist group that first formed in Kansas. The network of clubs around the country takes its name from the 19th-century abolitionist John Brown.

One of the flyers makes references to words allegedly written on a shell casing by Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson. The poster reads: “Hey fascist! Catch!” It further advertised itself as “the only political group that celebrates when Nazis die.” 

According to a number of social media posts, the flyers are hung near dormitories and on campus activity boards. Some posters call on prospective members to “do something more than symbolic resistance” and provide a scannable QR code that takes users to a document to sign up for the club.

“Georgetown University has no tolerance for calls for violence or threats to the university,” a spokesperson for the school told CNA. “The flyers have been removed and the university is investigating this incident and working to ensure the safety of our community.”

McMahon said the department spoke to Georgetown staff about the posters and police are now investigating.

“At a moment like this, Georgetown has to determine what it stands for as an institution,” McMahon wrote in the social media post. “[Education Department] officials have spoken to Georgetown administrators, who made the decision to remove the flyers.”

“Campus police are investigating the incident and will deploy resources to protect students as necessary. Allowing violent rhetoric to fester on our nation’s campuses without consequences is dangerous. It must be condemned by institutional leaders.”

“I am grateful to those who spoke out against this and made noise about the posters on campus — you made a difference. There is power in speaking up to reveal these hateful ideologies that have incited deadly violence,” McMahon said. “Keep fighting for good!”