Freedom of speech in education brought to forefront after Kirk assassination

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Attorney General Ken Paxton joined Stratford High School students in Houston on Wednesday to celebrate the inception of their Charlie Kirk-inspired student group.

“I’m here because I respect what you’ve done, and I want to stand with you,” Paxton said during the event at the Moran Hotel.

Paxton first got involved with the Stratford students when he responded to a post about their struggles to find faculty representation to start their “Club America” — the youth branch of Kirk’s ‘Turning Point USA.’ The post claimed a Stratford parent Facebook group reached out to the teachers who had agreed to sponsor the program due to opposition of Kirk’s views. The club’s first pair of sponsors withdrew their support.

“These are sick individuals,” Paxton posted on Sept. 19. “My office will review these messages for any violations of the law. The radical leftist culture of suppression must be totally defeated. We are not backing down, and we will not be silenced.”

Eventually, the Stratford students found a sponsor, and officially chartered their club on Monday. The Wednesday celebration took place on the two-week anniversary of Kirk’s assassination in Utah.

“We feel it’s important, we feel like it’s something we are called to do,” 17-year-old student leader Jack Robertson said. “We want to help inspire and create another generation of leaders… to continue Charlie’s legacy in our small part at Stratford High School.”

Free speech concerns across higher education

Paxton didn’t just voice his support for conservative high schoolers. Earlier this week, he joined onto a letter penned by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird asking higher education leaders to not silence conservative voices in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.

“Unfortunately, we have heard troubling reports that some university officials are using the murder of Charlie Kirk as a justification to shut down speech on campus,” the letter said. “While considering safety concerns, it is critical that universities are not imposing what would effectively be a tax on free speech. Particularly at this moment, when free speech itself was attacked, our universities must show through their actions that they will defend free speech and resist the ‘Assassin’s Veto.'”

Paxton has remained quiet on issues Democrats feel are violations of the freedom of speech.

“The Attorney General has been very clear about what issues are important to him and his office and it’s his prerogative as to what he wants to focus on,” Texas State University Media Law Professor Gilbert Martinez said.

Martinez’s employer — a branch of the state government — recently fired tenured associate professor Thomas Alter for comments he made at a communist conference. Alter has since sued, claiming he “was terminated because he espoused views that are unpopular in today’s politically charged climate, in violation of his First Amendment right to free speech.”

“We have a term called the ‘chilling effect,’ that if people are scared to express themselves because they might get in trouble, because they might get investigated, because they might get fired,” Martinez said. “Free speech does not protect one side or the other. It should protect as much speech as possible. The media law and ethics class that I teach, I emphasize that this is not about left or right. This is about protecting as much speech as possible, even offensive speech.”