It’s been almost a full year since Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University. In that time, numerous liberals have outed themselves as bloodthirsty extremists, expressing joy over the murder of the young father of two.
The Lone Star State made abundantly clear that it would not tolerate such extremism — especially not among public servants and those charged with educating the youth.
‘The Court’s order is not what we were hoping for.’
This evidently vexed American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and the Texas American Federation of Teachers, who announced a lawsuit in January challenging the crackdown on Texas educators’ public expression of pro-assassination sentiments.
The lawsuit did not go over as planned.
How it started
Two days after Kirk was assassinated, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath sent a letter to district superintendents, warning that his agency was aware that some Texas public school educators had posted or shared “reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media” about Kirk and his death.
A Klein Independent School District employee had, for instance, apparently called Kirk a “racist, homophobic, a misogynist, transphobic nasty person.” A high school teacher in the Midland Independent School District allegedly told students that Kirk “deserved what he got.”
“In response to such posts, I am referring all documentation of educators that have proliferated such vile content to TEA’s Educator Investigations Division,” wrote Morath. “Such posts could constitute a violation of the Educators’ Code of Ethics, and each instance will be thoroughly reviewed to determine whether sanctionable conduct has occurred and staff will investigate accordingly.”
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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. Rick Kern/Getty Images for Alpha School.
Morath emphasized that free speech is a fundamental right but does not “give carte blanche authority to celebrate or sow violence against those that share differing beliefs and perspectives.”
AFT President Weingarten and TAFT President Zeph Capo announced a federal lawsuit against the TEA and Morath on Jan. 6.
The lawsuit claimed that Morath’s Sept. 12, 2025, letter violated the First Amendment rights of Texas AFT members “because it is impermissibly vague, overbroad, and chills their protected speech.”
“Sadly, Texas officials, unlike their colleagues in Utah, decided to exploit the tragedy of Mr. Kirk’s senseless murder, rather than deescalate,” said Weingarten, a leftist who was instrumental in keeping schools shuttered in 2020.
“Their actions are a transparent effort to smear and shame educators, divide our communities, and deny our kids opportunities to learn and thrive. They are a state-sponsored attack on teachers because of what they thought were private comments to friends and family.”
How it’s going
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, an appointee of President Donald Trump, delivered the TAFT bad news late last month, dismissing the lawsuit due to lack of standing.
In his Aug. 21 ruling, Albright noted that the teachers’ union failed to show standing because its members’ injuries, “to the extent they exist, are not traceable” to Morath and his letter.
The Trump judge rejected the premise from TAFT that Morath’s letter constituted a new policy. After all, the letter identified “current, in-place policies,” “did not announce any new policy or expand any existing policy,” and simply stated that the commissioner would refer to the appropriate authority content that potentially violated the Educators’ Code of Ethics.
“Thus, any harm Plaintiff’s members suffered was due to the already existing Code of Ethics, the current investigatory process of the Educator Investigations Division, the in-place State Office of Administrative Hearings’ process, or the like,” wrote Albright.
As for the suggestion that Morath was responsible for radical educators’ visitation by consequence over their vile comments, Albright noted, “These injuries can only be caused by the in-place policies and procedures, none of which were altered by the Morath Letter.”
While Albright dismissed the case, he did so without prejudice, meaning the TAFT could refile.
“The Court’s order is not what we were hoping for and we disagree with its conclusions,” the TAFT said in a statement to KXAN-TV. “The order is based on a unique factual situation, and we do not believe it creates precedent that will harm Texas AFT members in the future.”
The TEA and Weingarten’s ATF did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ requests for comment.
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