A New Jersey surgeon allegedly “cheered” the assassination of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk — and a nurse who spoke out against the vile act claims she’s been suspended for her objections.
Lexi Kuenzle, a nurse at Englewood Health, filed a lawsuit Friday in Bergen County Superior Court against the hospital, Dr. Matthew Jung and others claiming she was wrongly suspended without pay for calling out the doctor’s vile act on her personal Instagram account.
“[Kuenzle] had the audacity to question how Dr. Jung can comply with the Hippocratic Oath’s and the American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics while celebrating the murder of a non-violent Christian speaker who was on a college campus,” the suit says.
Lexi Kuenzle, a nurse at Englewood Health, claimed she was suspended without pay and told to find another job after complaining to hospital brass that one of its doctors “cheered” Charlie Kirk’s assassination. instagram/lexiknzlKuenzle was in front of a nurses’ station with eight other nurses, and a patient in a stretcher, when the news of Kirk’s death broke.
“Oh, my God! That’s terrible! I love him!” Kuenzle said, before Jung shot back.
“I hate Charlie Kirk. He had it coming. He deserved it,” the bariatric surgeon allegedly said.
“You’re a doctor. How could you say someone deserved to die?” Kuenzie recalled replying.
“It was mind-blowing to me,” the 33-year-old Hoboken resident told The Post Saturday. “I was so angry and upset.”
Kuenzle said she reported Wednesday’s incident to management immediately and then posted about it on social media when she got home.
Charlie Kirk throws hats to the crowd shortly before he was shot Wednesday at a Utah Valley University event. via REUTERS
Security personnel carrying Kirk after Wednesday’s shooting. ZUMAPRESS.comThe following day, she was pulled into a meeting with hospital brass and suspended without pay pending a probe, the nurse claimed. A union rep also suggested she start looking for another job.
Kuenzle, an avid conservative whose Instagram photos include her posing in a bikini holding an American flag and a large cardboard figure of President Trump, has been a nurse for 10 years, including nearly two at Englewood Health.
Kuenzle, who’s an avid conservative, has a picture on Instagram that shows her posing in a bikini holding an American flag and a large cardboard figure of President Trump. Lexi Kuenzle/ InstagramIt was unclear Saturday whether Jung had been disciplined for his remarks.
The doctor did offer to “buy lunch” for the nurses who heard his rant, but if Jung “were to follow through” on his “mocking” offer, “it would not have included plaintiff because she had been suspended without pay,” according to the lawsuit.
Kuenzle, 33, has been a nurse for 10 years, including nearly two at Englewood Health. Linkedin/Lexi KuenzleKuenzle is seeking unspecified damages.
GOP activist Scott Presler called the nurse one of “Charlie’s Angels” and questioned on social media whether Jung has the ability to treat patients who disagree with his politics.
“Would he treat them differently? Would he allow his emotions to cloud his judgement, as he did by saying such a statement in front of a patient?” he said.
Englewood Health said in a statement Kuenzle and Jung were suspended “to allow time for a thorough and fair investigation, following our standard protocol, and in the interest of everyone’s safety including their own.”
The hospital declined to say whether Jung would be paid during his suspension.
Jung could not be reached for comment.
