INDIANA – The governor of Indiana said the state won’t shy away from revoking teacher licenses for anyone found making negative statements about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
What we know:
Governor Mike Braun issued a statement on social media saying, “While we must protect the first amendment, calls for political violence are not freedom of speech and should not be tolerated. The secretary of education has the authority to suspend or revoke a license for misconduct and the office will review reported statements of k-12 teachers and administrators who have made statements to celebrate or incite political violence.”
Braun’s comments follow a national trend; however, the Indiana State Teachers Association is warning against silencing educators.
They issued a statement of their own saying “In this moment, our focus should be on keeping students safe and supporting classrooms and communities. Political violence threatens our democracy, but so does censorship.
Also in Indiana, employees at the Department of Child Services and Ball State University have been fired over social media posts about Kirk’s death.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said his office will investigate evidence of statements made by educators that “celebrate or rationalize the assassination.”
Rokita said at least nine posts by educators have been submitted to the AG’s “eyes on education portal.”
Rokita launched the portal last year to crowdsource examples of “objectionable curricula, policies, or programs affecting children.”
