Participants worship during the memorial service honoring Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025.

Some educators who lost their jobs over comments they made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's slaying have filed lawsuits claiming their free speech rights were violated.

The school and university employees who have filed suits are some of the dozens of workers across a slew of fields fired or suspended from their jobs or subject to other consequences for their controversial comments, according to a USA TODAY count of news reports and statements. The count includes at least 50 educators.

At least three are fighting back in court, according to reporting by the USA TODAY Network. They include a teacher in Iowa who compared Kirk to a Nazi; a South Carolina teacher's assistant who posted a Kirk quote and said she disagreed with him but called the death a "tragedy"; and an employee of an Indiana university who said Kirk's death was wrong and condemned some of his beliefs.

Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of the conservative youth-focused organization Turning Point USA and a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Shooting suspect Tyler Robinson has been charged with his murder and accused of firing a single shot with a rifle from a rooftop.

The killing sparked a tense national debate over partisan rhetoric and politically motivated violence, with many conservatives calling for the firing of otherwise non-public figures who celebrated Kirk's death or spoke ill of him in some way.

The three educators – all employed by public school districts and a public university – are protected by the constitutional right to free speech, they argued in separate lawsuits filed in September. A suit filed by former Oskaloosa High School teacher Matthew Kargol in Iowa argued the school district "wielded state power to punish a citizen for expressing his opinion on political issues," reported the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network.

"Their actions strike at the heart of the First Amendment and chill the exercise of constitutional rights," Kargol's complaint said.

What did the school employees say about Charlie Kirk?

The fired employees all made posts on social media expressing their views on Charlie Kirk soon after his death, the suits said.

Kargol, the teacher fired in Iowa, made a post on his personal Facebook page while off duty that said "1 Nazi down," the lawsuit said. Oskaloosa Schools said on Sept. 11 that Kargol was placed on leave and his firing came Sept. 17 after a unanimous school board vote, the Des Moines Register reported.

"Mr. Kargol's comment was rhetorical hyperbole about a widely reported public event," the complaint said. "It did not threaten any person, did not incite imminent unlawful action and was not directed at any member of the school community."

Lauren Vaughn, who was fired on Sept. 15 from her job as a teacher's assistant at River Ridge Elementary School in Spartanburg, South Carolina, made comments on social media that "were nothing that she should have been terminated for," her attorney Jack Cohoon said, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

A post Vaughn made on Facebook included part of a quote from Kirk: "I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second amendment to protect our other God-given Rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."

"Thoughts and prayers," Vaughn added after the quote attributed to Kirk.

In comments under the post, Vaughn also said: “(T)he WHOLE point here is that any time someone is killed (it's) a tragedy. Even someone I may not like. Even someone I disagree with. But instead of accepting it, why don’t we do something about it?”

“I disagree with (Kirk) and think today should not have happened. I’m sorry it did," she said, according to the lawsuit.

Suzanne Swierc was fired from her job as director of health promotion and advocacy, the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. In her lawsuit, backed by the Indiana chapter of the ACLU, she said the post she made that got her fired was on her private Facebook account, visible only to confirmed friends. Nonetheless, screenshots of the post were widely shared by other accounts.

Swierc called Kirk's death "a tragedy" and said she "can and (does) feel for his wife and children." She also said she believes in the Resurrection and prays for his soul, the lawsuit said.

Her post in part also critiqued his political activism: "Charlie Kirk's death is a reflection of the violence, fear and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it's a sad truth."

Lawsuits argue free speech rights were violated

In each case, the educators' posts kicked up a swell of complaints and attention on social media. In the days following Kirk's death, high-profile conservative accounts circulated screenshots of controversial remarks and urged for employers to fire the posters. But the public school employees' remarks are examples of constitutionally protected free speech, the lawsuits said.

Kargol's lawsuit in Iowa calls the former teacher's social media post a "blunt personal reaction to a high-profile political event: speech on a matter of public concern at the very core of the First Amendment's protections."

"This matter was handled in accordance with applicable federal and state law and board policy," district officials told the Des Moines Register. "Because this is both a personnel matter and pending litigation, Oskaloosa Schools cannot provide further comment at this time. Our focus remains on creating safe, healthy, and kind schools that engage all students to embrace the power of learning."

Cohoon, the lawyer for Vaughn in South Carolina, said public school employers must balance their employees' rights to free speech against the need for the employer to avoid disruption to the workplace. He said the district hadn't shown Vaughn's comments caused disruption to the functioning of her school or other schools in the district. Melissa Robinette, spokesperson for the District Five Schools in Spartanburg County, told USA TODAY the county has received the lawsuit but has no comment.

The ACLU of Indiana argued in its suit against Ball State University that Swierc's comments had no impact on her job and she was terminated solely for exercising her expressive rights. The university has said her comments caused significant disruption to the college.

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Some educators who lost jobs over Charlie Kirk comments are now suing

Reporting by Jeanine Santucci, Marissa Payne, Baker Maultsby and Cate Charron, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

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