In the wake of the September 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA founder and activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus, a massive online backlash emerged.Right-wing influencers and accounts, such as “Libs of TikTok,” combed social media to identify and publicly expose individuals who made critical or lighthearted posts about Kirk’s death.However, recent legal developments have revealed that the government fallout from these events has carried a steep public price tag.
In two separate cases, officials in Florida and Tennessee have agreed to pay a combined $1.32 million to settle lawsuits brought by individuals whose First Amendment rights were violated after they made posts about Kirk.
In Florida, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) agreed to a $485,000 settlement with Brittney Brown, a state biologist who had worked for the agency for seven years.Following Kirk’s death, Brown reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account suggesting that Kirk did not care about children being shot in their classrooms. Libs of TikTok published Brown’s identity and workplace, and the FWC fired her the next day.
Brown filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, noting that because the FWC is the primary regulatory body for her specialized field of bird conservation, her firing left her largely unable to find alternative work.The resulting settlement covers backpay, damages, and attorney fees, under the condition that Brown will not seek future employment with the agency.
Carrie McNamara, an attorney with the ACLU of Florida representing Brown, called the deal a “hard-won vindication” and emphasized that government employees do not forfeit their First Amendment protections when they take a public job.U.S. District Judge Mark Walker also penalized Brown’s former supervisor for falsely claiming the post caused “hundreds” of complaints, when discovery revealed there were only about 50.
An even more severe government overreach occurred in Tennessee, where authorities agreed to pay $835,000 to retired police officer Larry Bushart.Bushart was subjected to an extraordinary 37-day jail sentence after posting a joke on Facebook about Kirk’s assassination.While imprisoned on a felony charge (that was eventually dropped) Bushart suffered significant personal and financial toll, including losing his post-retirement employment and missing the birth of his granddaughter.
Both cases highlight a broader wave of public and private sector terminations that followed the government crackdown on free speech after the Kirk assassination. Multiple cases are still winding their way through the court system.
Together, the settlements won by Brown and Bushart serve as a costly reminder to government entities.While the speech in question was controversial and drew online criticism (as well as praise), the legal system has firmly signaled that state agencies cannot bypass constitutional protections to punish citizens or employees for expressing political opinions on their private accounts.
