Professors, others punished by employers over Charlie Kirk comment receiving large settlements

College professors and others who spoke out publicly about Charlies Kirk after he was assassinated in 2025 have subsequently received large settlements in legal battles in which the plaintiffs’ comments were found to be protected speech, according to an announcement Wednesday by the nonprofit group The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The group, in announcing some of the settlements, also said it filed two such suits in Tennessee. 
One was on behalf of retired Tennessee law enforcement officer Larry Bushart. Bushart was arrested and spent 37 days in jail for posting a meme on Facebook that quoted President Trump saying, “We have to get over it.” 
Bushart was arrested at the direction of a local sheriff who claimed that the meme – quoting Trump talking about a past shooting at Perry High School in Iowa – represented a threat against Perry County High School in Tennessee. Bushart won an $835,000 settlement, according to FIRE.
“Violating the First Amendment will cost you,” Graham Piro, FIRE’s faculty legal defense manager, wrote in the report. “In almost every instance, their speech was protected — and lawsuits ensued.”
The second lawsuit was on behalf of an Iraq War veteran fired by a Tennessee state agency for criticizing Kirk in a Facebook comment to a friend. That suit is pending.
Also in Tennessee
In early July, the University of Tennessee paid an assistant anthropology professor $1.9 million after he was fired for posting that the world was better off without Kirk and that the former Turning Point USA CEO’s wife, Erika, was a “sick f***” for marrying him.
In addition, professor Darren Michael was “almost immediately fired” from Austin Peay State University in January after he posted a picture of an article about Kirk’s support of the Second Amendment. 
The school ended up settling a $500,000 lawsuit with him and reinstating his employment. Michael is an acting and directing professor, according to a social media profile.
Indiana
The report also touched on Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, which paid a $225,000 settlement in May after it fired a director of student wellness over a Facebook post she wrote saying that while Kirk’s murder was a tragedy, he was reaping the “hatred he sowed.”
North Carolina
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district in North Carolina paid $95,000 on June 18 ​​in a federal lawsuit settlement after Ardrey Kell High School removed a tribute message that a high school student wrote in remembrance of Kirk on a “spirit rock,” reading “Live Like Kirk.”
A lawyer for the family said the settlement will pay for damages and attorney fees, exonerate the student for any alleged wrongdoing and implement a new student free-speech policy, according to local news outlet wral.com.
South Carolina, 
Clemson University fired three faculty members in September 2025, immediately following Kirk’s death. 
Two of the individuals, Melvin Villaver and Robin Newberry, haven’t taken legal action against the school. But a former assistant professor, Joshua Bregy, filed a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union and reached a settlement in January, with the school rescinding his termination.
Florida
Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission paid a biologist almost $500,000 after it fired her for posting a meme about Kirk’s death.
“Just as the First Amendment protects those who praise Kirk’s work and legacy, it also protects those who criticize the man,” Piro wrote in the report. “A cancel-culture cycle in the wake of a tragedy is nothing new. But censoring speech only scares people from voicing their opinions.”
This censorship, he continued, is “especially egregious” in terms of the fact that it seems colleges and universities would rather use tax dollars to pay large settlements instead of “standing by their First Amendment obligations.” 
The result? Americans turn to the justice system to defend their right to expression, according to Piro.
He added that the First Amendment doesn’t allow public institutions to penalize their employees just because they “speak out in ways that offend others.”
Katherine Pugh is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage. 

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