Free Speech Battles After Charlie Kirk’s Death

The death of right‑wing activist Charlie Kirk sparked a flood of lawsuits that show how people were targeted for their online comments. In one case, Larry Bushart, a retired officer in Lexington, Tennessee, was arrested after posting memes that mocked Republican mourners. Sheriff Nick Weems claimed the posts threatened a local school, but Bushart insisted they were about Kirk’s death. He spent 37 days in jail on a $2 million bond he could not afford, before the charges were dropped. Now he is suing, with help from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). FIRE’s lawyer, David Rubin, says local officials can wield huge power to silence speech. He points out that at least 13 other people were fired for “Kirk‑related” remarks. Rubin argues cancel culture is a deep‑rooted problem that often ends in job loss for those who speak out.The American Federation of Teachers filed a suit against the Texas Education Agency after it asked superintendents to report teachers who posted about Kirk. The agency logged 354 complaints, many still under investigation, and the state’s governor supported the process on social media. Federal officials also weighed in. Vice President Vance urged listeners to “call out” those praising Kirk’s murder and even suggested employers should fire such people. This echoed the 2020 cancel culture wave, but legal experts note that an elected official’s call for firings can be seen as government coercion of private employers. A South Dakota art professor was fired after calling Kirk a “hate‑spreading Nazi. ” The governor’s public support of the firing may have saved him, but a federal court issued a temporary restraining order and the university dropped the case. These incidents reveal how quickly online speech can trigger legal action, administrative retaliation, and public debate about the limits of free expression.