A federal judge on Wednesday said an Iowa school district likely violated a teacher’s right to free speech by suspending her over comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
It’s one of several lawsuits filed around the state based on retaliation to social media posts about the assassination.
The Creston School District placed high school teacher Melissa Crook on leave over a Facebook post suggesting Kirk’s death was a “blessing.”
The judge granted an order in Crook’s favor in part because Crook was sharing her personal views and never claimed to speak for the district.
The ruling prevents Creston schools from firing Crook while the lawsuit goes forward, but it stops short of returning her to the classroom.
Court filings last year showed district officials received more than 250 calls and emails in the five days after conservative activist Kirk was shot. One called for Crook's "head on a platter."
After the assassination, a social media post by a University of South Dakota Professor Michael Hook about the killing of Kirk moved college officials to terminate his position.
However, USD officials by October have reversed course and stopped working to fire Hook, and he was reinstated.
