Judge Reinstates Fired Professor Who Called Charlie Kirk a Nazi

A judge said the University of South Dakota acted on political pressure when it fired the professor over a Facebook post, ruling his speech was protected.

People take part in the Building a Legacy: Remembering Charlie Kirk Memorial event at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Sept. 21, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

A federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of a professor dismissed for writing on social media that he has “no thoughts and prayers” for assassinated conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, whom he called a “hate spreading Nazi.”

U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier issued the ruling on Sept. 24, granting Phillip Michael Hook’s request for a temporary restraining order and directing the University of South Dakota to reinstate Hook to his tenured position pending further proceedings.

Schreier said Hook showed a strong chance of winning his case, that protecting free speech was a “compelling” public interest, and that he would face “irreparable harm” if the firing stood.

Hook, a tenured art professor at the University of South Dakota, posted the remarks to his private Facebook page on Sept. 10, the same day Kirk was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University. “I have no thoughts or prayers for this hate spreading Nazi. A shrug, maybe,” Hook wrote.

Hook deleted the message three hours later and posted an apology.

“Apparently my frustration with the sudden onslaught of coverage concerning a guy shot today led to a post I [now] regret posting,“ he wrote, adding, ”I extend this public apology to those who were offended.”

By then, however, public and political backlash was mounting. His post drew swift rebukes from South Dakota Republicans, with House Speaker Jon Hansen saying he was “disgusted by his remarks” and contacted the university president to call for Hook’s termination.

“That kind of disgusting rhetoric from an employee and representative of our university directed toward a good man’s family who was recently assassinated will not be tolerated,” Hansen said in a post on X.

He later posted an update thanking the Board of Regents for “doing the right thing.”

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden also weighed in.

“When I read this post, I was shaking mad. The Board of Regents intends to FIRE this University of South Dakota professor, and I’m glad,” he wrote on X. “We need more Charlie Kirks on campus and less hatred like this.”

Within days, the university placed Hook on administrative leave and delivered a letter citing “unfitness to discharge the trust reposed in public university faculty members or to perform assigned duties” and a policy requiring professors, even as private citizens, to remain accurate and respectful.

Hook sued, alleging unconstitutional retaliation against political speech.

“Professor Hook’s Facebook posts cannot possibly justify his dismissal under these rules,” his attorneys wrote in a court filing, alleging that the reason for his firing was pressure after his “post angered powerful politicians.”

“The First Amendment protects political speech even though it offends some. This lawsuit seeks to prohibit defendants from retaliating against Professor Hook for exercising his First Amendment right to speak on political matters.”

The judge agreed, concluding that the university failed to show evidence of workplace disruption and noting the close timing of the firing notice, its sole reliance on Hook’s Facebook post, and communications from South Dakota politicians urging his removal, as pointing to political pressure behind the termination.

The Epoch Times has contacted counsel representing the University of Dakota for comment.