Topline
A handful of people who were retaliated against for social media posts criticizing right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk after his death have been awarded more than $2.2 million in First Amendment lawsuits settled so far this year, and there are thought to be hundreds of similar cases working their way through the legal system.
Timeline
Suzanne Swierc, who worked in administration at Ball State University in Indiana, was awarded a $225,000 settlement after the school fired her and cited a Facebook post about Kirk as the sole reason. In her post, she referred to Kirk’s killing as a “reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed,” adding, “If you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends.”
Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired police officer in Tennessee, was awarded an $835,000 settlement after he was charged with a felony and spent over a month in jail—missing the birth of his grandchild—after he refused to delete social media posts criticizing Kirk, his organization and President Donald Trump.
Biologist Brittney Brown was awarded a $485,000 settlement from Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after the agency fired her for reposting a meme on Instagram claiming Kirk didn’t care about children being shot in their classrooms. Brown said she was fired the day after her post and claimed that within minutes, her firing was leaked to the popular Libs of TikTok social media account that doxxed many people who posted negatively about Kirk.
Jana Aldrich, who posted on Facebook that she “wouldn’t miss” Kirk, was fired from her job as a teacher with a nonprofit as a result of her post. She challenged the dismissal through the state unemployment system and was awarded an unspecified amount of benefits in a settlement.
A tenured professor who was fired by Austin Peay State University in Tennessee for his social media post was re-hired and given a $500,000 settlement after the school admitted it violated his due process rights. After Kirk’s death, acting and directing professor Darren Michael shared a news article from 2023 with the headline “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth It to Keep 2nd Amendment.”
A court ruled Clemson University professor Joshua Bregy would be paid through the end of the spring semester after he was fired last fall for a Facebook post he made criticizing Kirk’s rhetoric regarding gun control (Clemson also fired two other employees for their Kirk posts, but they didn’t sue). Exactly how much Bregy won in the settlement was not disclosed but is thought to be similar to his salary at the school year before, which was just over $90,000.
Key Background
Kirk, a right-wing political activist who spent much of his professional life advocating for Second Amendment rights, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University in September. He was at the school for a debate planned by Turning Point USA, a youth organization he co-founded to advocate for conservative politics on high school and college campuses. His killing amplified some political divides, with some conservative politicians and right-wing figures largely describing it as a shocking “act of evil” and the death of a “martyr” while some media outlets and left-leaning politicians pointed out his lifelong defense of gun rights and focused largely on the polarized online reactions. A number of prominent conservatives, including Vice President JD Vance, called on Kirk’s followers to report people who made disparaging remarks about him to their employers and encouraged they be fired. Trump later said any television network that criticized Kirk too harshly could be punished by the Federal Communications Commission. Legacy late night host Jimmy Kimmel was temporarily pulled from the air for his comments about the conservative response to Kirk’s death, and the controversy exposed a broader debate over whether celebrating or joking about a political figure’s death should be treated as protected expression.
What To Watch For
More settlements. Reporting from The Guardian estimates more than 600 people were fired or otherwise punished for posting about Charlie Kirk’s death, and many of them later sued. Groups like the FIRE Foundation, a nonprofit legal group specializing in free speech, and the American Civil Liberties Union stepped up to file suits on behalf of those punished, and pending lawsuits include those filed by Tennessee state employee Monica Meeks, fired for calling Kirk a “White Supremacist,” and South Carolina teacher’s aide Lauren Vaughn, who posted a verbatim quote from Kirk with “Thoughts and prayers” as the only added commentary.
