US states paying to compensate people fired, arrested for Charlie Kirk's negative posts
Republican officials and hard-line activists took to social media in the days after Charlie Kirk was killed last September to find comments from police officers they believe are indifferent to the MAGA-friendly activist's legacy.
As a result, teachers and public and private sector employees who were deemed to be promoting hate speech were suspended or fired. In one case, a man was detained for more than a month. By November, Reuters had listed about 600 cases of Americans accused of making comments about Kirk's death ranging from negative to serious to offensive.
Now, the bill comes because of those powerful responses — often found to be consistent with First Amendment free speech protections — and sometimes at taxpayer expense.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday announced that Brittney Brown has reached a nearly half a million dollar settlement with Florida. Brown, a biologist, was fired after seven years with the federal Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), after he shared a meme on a private Instagram story comparing Kirk's indifference to the shooting death with allegations that Kirk, a gun rights advocate, was indifferent to school shooting deaths in the US.
A popular Libs TikTok account found Brown's meme and demanded it be taken down.
Brown won't get his job back, but the ACLU said the FWC “agreed to provide Brown with a neutral reference for future employment inquiries” and not to mislead him if his work in the industry should conflict with federal agencies in the future.
“All I wanted was to get my job back,” Brown said. “FWC employees deserve better, and so do Floridians.”
We are proud to stand with Brittney in this fight. What happened to him was not a single incident, but a manifestation of a wider pattern of excesses by state officials.
The decision follows surprising comments last week from a federal judge, after Brown's former boss, Melissa Tucker, found it unfounded that the state received “hundreds” of complaints about Brown's Instagram posts.
“There is a label for what Ms. Tucker did – making false statements. And there is a label for what you did. [her] The defense attorney made — heinous charges,” said US District Judge Mark Walker, according to local media reports.
Brown expressed sadness at the events of the past nine months in a statement released on Thursday, when he accused the government of Gov. Ron DeSantis hypocritically.
“I don't see leaders among the FWC 'leadership,' but that's to be expected when a federal agency becomes the governor's puppet show,” Brown said.
“The 'Free State of Florida' only offers First Amendment protections to those who agree with the current administration, while the rest of us are expected to fall into line or risk losing our livelihoods.”
Larry Bushart, 61, is more relieved than angry after it was announced he will receive US$835,000 from Tennessee after spending 37 days in jail last year.
Bushart, a retired police officer, has been charged with a felony – threatening a school with serious violence – and his cash bond was set at $2 million US. The case was later dropped.
A meme he posted on Facebook features US President Donald Trump saying “we have to get over it” after the 2024 school shooting in Iowa's Perry County. Bushart tweeted: “This seems to be working today,” shortly after Kirk was shot.
Tennessee Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems told reporters that residents were shocked by the post, fearing that Bushart was threatening the high school.
Bushart said Wednesday that “freedom to participate in civil discourse is essential to a healthy democracy,” and that he “looks forward to moving forward.”
Iowa reinstates public defender
The state of Iowa, meanwhile, announced its own stay related to Kirk earlier this month. Public defender Maria Ruttenberg — terminated after posting on social media “go for what you've invested” and “live by the sword, die by the sword” — was fired and awarded $125,000 in damages.
When Kirk was shot at the University of Utah on September 10, 2025, the Trump administration quickly issued warnings about the rhetoric. The State Department said it would revoke the visas of any US visitors who celebrated Kirk's murder.
Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday, defending political slurs from “bullying” by the Trump administration, six days after his on-air comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk led Disney to cancel his show.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is now running for governor of Tennessee, called on social media for the firing of three college or university officials in that state.
Darren Michael, a professor at Austin Peay State University, on September 10th posted a 2023 news article headline that read, “Charlie Kirk Says 'Unfortunate' Gun Deaths Are Worth Saving Second Amendment.”
He was fired, but reinstated a few months later, receiving a reported US$500,000 in compensation.
After Kirk's death, progressive commentators and other Democratic lawmakers commented on what they saw as hypocrisy, as stories about conservative visitors having canceled speeches at liberal colleges have angered Republicans for years. Also, Vice President JD Vance has warned European countries that they have expressed concern about hate speech contained in the social networks of American companies.
It was also revealed that Kirk himself was once seen mocking Paul Pelosi, the wife of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Kirk suggested on his radio show that if someone released the suspect at the time, a Canadian-born man who was later convicted, he would be “an incredible activist.”
Trump, for his part, has not exercised the kind of restraint in speech that Republicans have called for since Kirk's murder, posting what was seen as contempt or indifference after the deaths of director Rob Reiner and former FBI director Robert Mueller.
