Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.

Political violence is no longer an abstract threat but a heavy reality for Americans.

In recent months, we have seen Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family targeted during Passover, a Minnesota state legislator and her husband assassinated in their own home, another Minnesota legislator and his wife shot and now the high-profile killing of Charlie Kirk at a college campus rally. Most Americans are struggling to make sense of the state of our union.

Political fallout related to Kirk’s assassination has been immediate with a chilling effect spreading beyond violence itself.

ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off the air temporarily for remarks he made about Kirk’s death. Both private citizens and public figures face the threat of professional ruin for speaking, or being perceived as speaking, too freely.

America is wounded. And the role of public officials should be obvious: lower the temperature, uphold the rule of law and safeguard citizens’ rights. Instead, state Auditor Shad White – the first millennial to serve in statewide office in Mississippi – chose to weaponize his platform and power against two women for expressing their views on their personal social media accounts.

On Sept. 11, Auditor White logged onto Facebook and X where he published the headshot, contact information and social media account of a University of Mississippi employee. Two days later, he doxed another Mississippian — a small business owner in Lucedale. With the Lucedale woman, White took it a step further and advised: “Everyone, I would buy from a differently owned local business if I were you.”

What followed should have been predictable and completely foreseeable to a Harvard-trained lawyer like White. Both women and their families received threats. Both now face the possibility of losing livelihoods and reputations they worked years to build.

This was not auditing. This was intimidation. This was the state’s chief watchdog turning his authority into a cudgel against his own constituents.

As state auditor, White has lawful tools at his disposal if he truly believes a public employee engaged in misconduct: internal reviews, disciplinary referrals, even formal investigations. Those mechanisms ensure due process that is the constitutional safeguard protecting every American from arbitrary government action.

White substituted the rule of law for online outrage in direct retaliation against private citizens for speech protected by the First Amendment.

When government officials weaponize their office to punish speech, it doesn’t just chill debate. It endangers lives. The predictable harassment these women now face is not an unfortunate accident; it is the natural consequence of a public official broadcasting their personal information to an inflamed audience of more than 38,000 followers.

What White did is not just bad judgment but an abuse of office. Elected officials swear an oath to their constituents and are bound by fiduciary duties to the taxpayers they serve. Using state resources and official platforms for personal political gain violates that trust and exposes the state, and its taxpayers, to legal liability.

It also sets a precedent no Mississippian wants: Your livelihood, your safety and your family can be put at risk at the whim of a politician chasing clicks. Today, it’s two women who criticized Charlie Kirk. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who dares to speak against those in power.

The irony should not escape anyone: White, who publicly champions Christian conservative values, singled out two vulnerable women at a moment when violence against political dissent dominates national headlines.

True leadership requires empathy and restraint. In his post about the woman in Lucedale, White wrote: “There is no place for political violence in America, even if you disagree with (Kirk).” It is baffling that White condemns political violence when it suits his brand of politics but remains silent while his own actions incite harassment against the very people he swore an oath to protect.

I’ve spent my career representing people and businesses facing government overreach and government failure, often when the stakes are high and emotion flows freely. What happened here in Mississippi is not a local story but a case study in how fragile constitutional protections become when officials place ambition above duty.

From Kimmel being pulled off air, to women in Lucedale and Oxford receiving threats, to families grieving after senseless acts of political violence, the throughline is clear: When speech is chilled, due process is eliminated. When power is abused, our civil rights are not safe.

That is why I fight in the courtroom and in the public square to hold government accountable and to ensure that, even in moments of chaos, the rule of law remains.

If Mississippi’s auditor believes weaponizing his office against his own citizens is acceptable conduct, then he has disqualified himself from holding any public office going forward. Because in America, we do not audit dissent. We audit dollars.

Bio: Kimberly Russell, Esq., is the founder of The Russell Law Firm in Washington. A former journalist turned litigator, she provides strategic support in trials and appeals. Her work focuses on protecting due process and strengthening the rule of law. She grew up in Brandon and earned her law degree from the University of Mississippi.