Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers sued Texas on Tuesday, urging a federal court to block the state from investigating teachers’ social media posts following the September assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas names the Texas Education Agency and its Commissioner Mike Moraes as defendants.
Texas AFT said a September letter from the Texas Education Agency announcing the investigation of teachers and staff said the agency “posted and/or shared reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media regarding Kirk’s assassination.”
The union said more than 350 educators were investigated in Texas, and some union members were fired, put on administrative leave and reprimanded.
The lawsuit alleges that the Texas Education Agency failed to define what “inappropriate” meant and failed to provide protections to ensure that educators’ due process and free speech rights were protected.
The Texas Education Agency said in the letter that some social media posts may have “violated the Educator Code of Ethics.” The agency said Tuesday it was “unable to comment on pending legal matters.”
Kirk was shot on a Utah college campus. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of Americans faced firings, suspensions, investigations and other actions for the views they expressed against him. Republicans claimed it glorified violence, while rights advocates raised free speech concerns.
Civil rights advocates criticized Kirk’s comments, calling them racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic and misogynistic, citing his public statements about Black Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, Muslims and immigrants.
His supporters describe him as a champion of conservative values and public debate, inspiring young voters to support President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Republican-controlled Texas also faced accusations of free speech violations last November when the state designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a prominent Muslim civil rights group, as a “foreign terrorist organization.” CAIR challenged this in court.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)