Update from March 20:

Former SIU School of Medicine Professor Kyle Miller has been arrested and charged with two counts of public indecency – one for sexual conduct and one for lewd exposure on campus –  after an investigation by the Jackson County State’s Attorney was launched when a social media account posted screenshots that appeared to show the professor masturbating on video in various locations on the Carbondale campus.

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According to public record databases VINE and Judici, the arrest was made on March 17 and Miller was booked at the Jackson County Courthouse at 4:11 p.m. that day. 

He was then released and charged on March 19 at 3:32 p.m. 

In Illinois, public indecency includes lewd exposure of the body in a public place – such as a campus building – even if it was empty at the time. It is a Class A misdemeanor and could lead to up to one year in jail plus fines. If there are prior convictions, it could be elevated to a felony.

According to public records, the case arraignment is scheduled for April 23 at 8:30 a.m. at the Jackson County Courthouse. 

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The prosecuting attorney is Courtney Jakobsen and the assigned judge is Steven M. J. Bost. 

The records also indicate that Miller is “not to be on SIU Campus,” for the time being. 

Update from March 17:

An updated statement on March 17 from Southern Illinois University has confirmed that SIU School of Medicine Professor Kyle Miller is no longer employed by the university after a social media account – one commonly critical of progressive politics – posted screenshots that appear to show the professor masturbating on video in various locations on the Carbondale campus.

According to the university, “Kyle Miller is no longer employed by SIU School of Medicine. SIU takes all matters related to professional conduct seriously and condemns inappropriate behavior.”

The Jackson County State’s Attorney has confirmed that their investigation is still ongoing and that they cannot provide any more details on the matter at this time. 

Published in a thread on the social platform X, @libsoftiktok – an account run by Chaya Raichik, whose posts often aim to generate outrage from the political right – accused professor Kyle Miller of filming himself masturbating in SIU lecture halls, offices, staircases and hallways and then posting them to accounts under the social media handle @midwest0tter.

Public response to the situation has been polarizing, inciting an onslaught of social media memes, discourse about the universities federal funding and even an independent website documenting the situation. 

Neither SIU Chancellor Austin Lane nor System President Dan Mahony could be reached for comment about the public’s response. 

On Thursday, March 13 The SIUC X account responded to the @libsoftiktok thread, replying “We are aware of the situation and take all matters related to professional conduct seriously. While we cannot discuss personnel issues, we want to emphasize that we are committed to fostering a respectful workplace and will address inappropriate behaviors accordingly.”

Original story information from March 13:

In the thread, screenshots show the @midwest0tter claiming to take requests on Bluesky – another social media platform – to masturbate in public, specifically on campus, record the act and then post the videos to X and other social platforms.

The screenshots of the videos have timestamps that show them being posted on March 10 and 11, including one that says it was posted just five hours before the screenshot was taken, however it is unclear when exactly that was. 

In one screenshot, the @midwest0tter claims to have almost gotten caught while filming a video of himself masturbating in what appears to be a Lawson lecture hall. 

It is unclear how exactly Libs of TikTok acquired the screenshots and the subsequent information that they have used to accuse Miller of these acts. 

Libs of TikTok has not yet posted a story to their website, nor did they verify their sources, however the DE can confirm that accounts with the handle @midwest0tter did exist on TikTok, Twitter, Reddit and Bluesky, but those accounts have since been deleted. 

Despite Miller being no longer employed, there has been no admission from any SIU institution or Miller himself confirming whether or not he is the person performing the acts seen in the screenshots, or whether or not the acts took place on the SIU campus. However from the background of the videos, the locations appear to be in a Lawson lecture hall, a staircase and hallway in Pulliam Hall and an office in an unidentifiable SIU location.

Miller’s personal social media accounts, as well as his profile on the SIU School of Medicine website, have been deleted as of Thursday, March 13.

Attempts to reach Miller and Raichik were unsuccessful.

Despite no further evidence being presented regarding the accusations she made of Miller, Raichik did take the opportunity to loop in the Department of Government Efficiency  – or DOGE – by tagging the department in a follow-up post on X Thursday claiming that SIU should be stripped of its federal funding for emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at its institution.

However a federal judge issued an injunction on Feb. 21 concerning the executive order (14151) that Raichik referred to in the X post, which means that the federal government cannot immediately cut funding or enforce penalties against schools continuing initiatives that involve things like diversity, equity and inclusion.

Raichik, who has historically made many hateful comments toward the LGBTQ community, also claimed in a follow-up X post that SIU uses tax dollars to “groom children” in reference to a Drag Show being held at the SIU Student Center on March 19. 

Raichik’s @libsoftiktok account ranks 171st when it comes to having the most community notes applied to their posts on X, which is a feature Elon Musk spearheaded when he purchased the platform. Community Notes aim to combat misinformation by fact-checking or adding relevant context to misleading or false posts. 

There are an estimated 500 million active users on X, and the thread about Miller has 3 million views as of Monday afternoon. 

Miller had been working as a professor at SIU since 2023, and wrote his PhD dissertation about the disclosure of drug use to health care professionals using a “reasoned action approach.” 

Miller has been credited as an author on many other academic papers, all of which are focused on drug usage, health care and LGBTQ communities. 

Staff reporter Jackson Brandhorst can be reached at [email protected].

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