A former Georgia teacher has reached a settlement with a local school district over disciplinary action taken after she posted about the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Michelle Mickens settled her lawsuit with the Oglethorpe County School District on July 3, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which represented her.
The SPLC filed the lawsuit in October after Mickens was placed on indefinite leave and allegedly encouraged to resign over comments posted on her private Facebook account following Kirk’s fatal shooting at a Utah university on Sept. 10.
The filing states that Mickens and the school district jointly agreed to dismiss all claims with prejudice, with each side responsible for its own legal fees and costs.
Teachers, airline pilots, university employees, military personnel, and a Secret Service agent were among those suspended, investigated, or dismissed in the days following his death.
“I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.- Charlie Kirk,” Mickens’s initial post reads, a direct quote from Kirk.
The comment sparked a discussion between Mickens and several friends, some of whom disagreed with her sharing, which led Mickens to respond later that evening to a Facebook friend, stating:
“I don’t condone violence of any kind, and I certainly don’t condone this, but he was a horrible person, a fascist full of hate for anyone who was different. While I’m sad that we live in a country where gun violence is an epidemic, the world is a bit safer without him.
“I didn’t respect him at all, and he’s part of the hatred and vitriolic language we hear so much now. I pray that without him, people can be kinder and more tolerant to one another.”
SPLC characterized those comments as criticism of “Kirk’s opposition to gun control, but she also condemned political violence and expressed her hope for a safer, more peaceful world.”
It said that she was placed on leave by the Oglethorpe County School System. Her lawsuit alleged that this action violated her First Amendment rights.
“We are pleased to reach a mutually amicable settlement of this matter,” said Sam Boyd, senior supervising attorney at SPLC, in a statement.
“As courts across the country have recognized in other cases involving firings over comments about Charlie Kirk, and many other topics, ‘public school employees, including teachers, have a constitutionally protected right to free speech.’”
SPLC said that parties have reached a mutually agreed-upon confidential settlement that resolves this matter in its entirety.
Last October, Oglethorpe County School System Superintendent Beverley Levine told Atlanta News First the district was “confident that it will prevail in defending against this litigation.”
The Epoch Times contacted Oglethorpe County School for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Robinson, 23, is accused of fatally shooting Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative Turning Point USA youth movement, while Kirk spoke at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.
During a four-day proceeding set to begin on July 6 in a Utah courtroom, prosecutors must reveal some of the evidence they have against Robinson.
T.J. Muscaro and Tom Gantert contributed to this report.
