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Ohio State students visit the crime scene outside Watts Hall where 11 were injured after a student drove his car into a crowd and attacked people with a knife.

(David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State University's assistant director of residence life is facing calls for her dismissal after asking for compassion for Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who was killed after injuring 11 people in a car and knife attack Monday.

Artan was shot by an Ohio State police officer after he drove into a group of faculty and students outside Watts Hall, got out of the car and stabbed several with a butcher knife.

The Somali-born student may have been inspired by the Islamic State group and a former al-Qaeda leader, FBI officials said Wednesday.

Stephanie Clemons Thompson posted a message to Facebook, including a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement, on Tuesday chiding those who celebrated Artan's death and posted photos of his body. While she wrote the message should not be shared, screenshots were soon circulating on social media.

OSU professor Thompson should resign immediately. These are the idiots that are teaching our kids. Worried about the attackers pain? Wow! pic.twitter.com/geZ2enCsaI — John doe (@juhhhjgghk) November 29, 2016

As the post was shared many who commented were upset that she defended a person who tried to kill others.

"By using hashtags like blacklivesmatter and sayhisname, she is conflating someone who actively tried to MURDER his fellow students with black citizens who were killed unnecessarily by police officers," wrote a commenter to an article about the administrator in the student newspaper The Lantern. "She is implying, if not outright saying, that the death of someone committing an act of terror aimed at students under her watch was wrong. She has no place at a University where she is an a position of trust and responsibility."

Others were also upset she referenced Black Lives Matter.

"Bringing the group #BlackLivesMatter into her post as a defense to these heinous acts only further promotes the violent and racially divided rhetoric being flooded by our media," says a petition on change.org calling for her resignation. "That racial divide goes against the morals and principals OSU stands for. Her actions, as an employee, reflect on the university."

The petition, posted Wednesday, has more than 1,200 signatures.

OSU spokesman Ben Johnson told The Lantern that Thompson's post does not represent the university.

"This post from this individual clearly is not an official statement of the university and represents her own personal viewpoint," Johnson said in an email.

Thompson, an East Cleveland native, has not responded to requests for comment from The Lantern and other media.

Some commenters have defended Thompson and her call for compassion. And people are posting statements of support on #buckeyes4stephanie.

Dafina-Lazarus Stewart, an associate professor of higher education and student affairs at Bowling Green State University, posted a series of tweets defending Thompson, Inside Higher Ed reported.

Among them: "Don't be silent student affairs pros. Don't be intimidated. She's not the threat. This person & attitude like theirs are. Block & report." and "Fired for what exactly? Being compassionate? Reminding the community that we shouldn't gloat over someone's death? Nope" and "This is the kind of professional *I* want working with students on my campus who uses whatever means at her disposal to support all students."