Indiana university employee fired over Charlie Kirk post receives $225K settlement

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, May 27, 2026

An Indiana university employee who was fired after stoking outrage over a Facebook post accusing late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk of spreading hatred before his assassination has received $225,000 to settle a lawsuit against her former employer alleging violations of her First Amendment rights.

Suzanne Swierc, former director of health promotion and advocacy at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, will receive the payout after suing over her termination last September, according to The Associated Press. Her firing came days after she posted a private Facebook comment that some interpreted as blaming Kirk for his own murder.

“Let me be clear: if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can't be friends. His death is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for his wife and children,” she wrote. “Charlie Kirk's death is a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it's a sad truth.”

Swierc also highlighted other recent examples of gun violence in her post and claimed Kirk “excused the deaths of children in the name of the Second Amendment.”

Though her post was private and not accessible to the general public, a screenshot of it went viral after being shared by the popular X account Libs of TikTok and publicized by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. The controversy prompted a flood of outrage and threats that Swierc said traumatized her.

Ball State University was likewise inundated with backlash and threats, including threats of violence, according to AP. The university terminated Swierc days later, claiming her social media post caused “significant disruption” to the school.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took up Swierc’s case, alleging her firing violated her constitutional rights because she was “speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern,” according to ACLU attorney Stevie Pactor.

“The First Amendment does not allow government institutions to retaliate in those circumstances, and this settlement reflects that,” Pactor said.

Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns remained unapologetic about Swierc’s termination and maintained that the “modest monetary payment” she received in the settlement was small compared to the cost of fighting the lawsuit, according to a Tuesday statement shared with AP.

“The reaction was extraordinarily damaging to our university’s reputation and image, and it was exceptionally disruptive to our mission and our people,” Mearns said.

In a profile published by The Indianapolis Star, Swierc said she was scrolling through social media the day Kirk was killed when she decided none of the reactions she was reading reflected the nuance she wanted to express.

“Nothing that I was reading was capturing how I was feeling about the situation, considering a lot of the things that he would talk about and some of the attitudes that he inspired with his speech,” she said. “Nobody else's words are capturing how I'm feeling right now, so I will just do it myself.”

Swierc is the latest among several individuals who have received six-figure settlements after filing lawsuits over professional consequences tied to social media posts about Kirk following his killing by a gunman at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.

Last December, Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, reinstated tenured professor Darren Michael, who also received a $500,000 settlement and reimbursement for counseling after suing over his firing for posting a satirical 2023 headline that read: “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth It to Keep 2nd Amendment.”