‘Essence Of Our Democracy’: Teachers Union Fights For Right To Mock Charlie Kirk’s Death

The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sued the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on Tuesday for allegedly targeting over 350 teachers and school employees over their public comments on Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

TEA commissioner Mike Morath sent a letter to Texas school superintendents on Sept. 12, two days after Kirk’s murder at a Utah Valley University speaking event, warning them that educators caught posting “vile content” on social media about it would be investigated for violating the state’s educator ethics code. The teachers union lawsuit claims Morath’s letter “unleashed a wave of retaliation and disciplinary actions against teachers” and chilled their free speech rights.

“Somewhere and somehow, our state’s leaders lost their way. A few well-placed Texas politicians and bureaucrats think it is good for their careers to trample on educators’ free speech rights,” Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “They decided scoring a few cheap points was worth the unfair discipline, the doxxing, and the death threats targeted at Texas teachers. Meanwhile, educators and their families are afraid that they’ll lose everything: their livelihoods, their reputations, and their very purpose for being, which is to impart critical thinking.”

One teacher cited in the lawsuit claims to have been fired after suggesting “karma played a role” in Kirk’s death, though the union insisted the post did not “result in any disruption to school operations.” The teacher later settled a wrongful termination claim with the district.

Another teacher, who remains employed, was allegedly referred to TEA for disciplinary investigation after writing “multiple posts on his private Facebook page criticizing Mr. Kirk for his statements against Black Americans and noting the public’s lack of outrage for other acts of violence.” The principal of the school allegedly told the teacher he did not believe the teacher “had done anything wrong.” The case remains active.

A third teacher only “commented on a viral TikTok post from her public account, criticizing Mr. Kirk’s stance on immigration,” the lawsuit claims, but it was provocative enough that at least one X user called “for her to lose her job.” This prompted a referral to the school’s human resources department for “her post about Mr. Kirk and other reposts to her social media,” which apparently “violated the school social media” and warranted a referral to TEA. Once again, the school’s principal took the side of the teacher, according to the lawsuit. The investigation is ongoing.

A school principal accused another teacher of failing to conduct herself “in a professional and ethical manner,” citing “inappropriate postings on social media” and reminding the teacher she is “representing yourself as an educator of the District.” The teacher’s behavior consisted of “several comments on social media criticizing the amount of public mourning for Mr. Kirk’s death compared to the public mourning of children killed in school shootings” and criticisms about Kirk’s “controversial statements about people of color, immigrants, and women.”

The exact content and details of the teachers’ specific posts were not included in the lawsuit.

TEA did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

National AFT president Randi Weingarten insisted protecting teachers’ right to mock Kirk’s death online “is the essence of our democracy.”

“Sadly, Texas officials, unlike their colleagues in Utah, decided to exploit the tragedy of Mr. Kirk’s senseless murder, rather than deescalate,” Weingarten said in a statement. “Their actions are a transparent effort to smear and shame educators, divide our communities, and deny our kids opportunities to learn and thrive. They are a state-sponsored attack on teachers because of what they thought were private comments to friends and family.”

“And even if we think some of this speech is noxious, defending one’s right to speak is the essence of our democracy,” she continued. “You don’t lose your constitutional rights when you decide to become a teacher—the Constitution, for it to have any meaning at all, has to work for all Americans, not just some. Teachers pour their heart and soul into their work with kids. They should be judged on that work, not some culture war that exploits horrific violence for political ends.”

“Educators don’t give up their constitutional rights when they get their first teaching job. We look forward to defending our members and making our case in court,” Capo stated.