Some of us in the free speech community have been writing about the hypocrisy of many in the media and academia suddenly championing free speech values after years of silence (or support) over censorship of conservatives, libertarians, and contrarians. A good example can be found in the Chicago area, where a physical education teacher is on administrative leave and faces possible termination after posting two words (“Go ICE”) on Facebook in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local leaders and groups are demanding that he be fired, even though a posting opposing ICE would likely have been heralded rather than condemned.
Social media exploded with commentators calling the teacher a “f****** piece of s***.” A flyer demanded termination because any expression of support for ICE is “inappropriate and unsuitable for an educator.” The flyer insisted that “keeping this teacher will disrupt the emotional welfare and therefore, the education of our students.”
Local Democratic leaders immediately joined the mob. That includes Karina Villa, who posted a message saying she stands in “unwavering solidarity” with those demanding action given the “disturbing comments reportedly made by an educator.”
As is often the case, Villa did the perfunctory nod toward the right to free speech before joining the effort to gut it. She acknowledged the right, but noted that “as educators we have the responsibility to our students and their families to create a safe and welcoming environment for all.”
According to the district’s superintendent, Kristina Davis, the unnamed teacher submitted a resignation on Friday but then withdrew that resignation before the board could approve it. She then suspended the teacher pending an investigation.
That “investigation” concerns the posting of two words in favor of law enforcement outside the school on a personal social media account.
In the meantime, Mayor Daniel Bovey and the city council of West Chicago held a “listening session” on Monday to address the trauma of having a teacher who openly supports ICE. The District also addressed what it called the “disruption for students, families, and staff” and assured families that “our schools are safe spaces.”
Once again, the teacher simply wrote “Go Ice” on a personal social media account.
Notably, the nearby Chicago Teachers’ Union is one of the most radical and politically active in the country. Members have publicly voiced support for the Venezuelan regime and have engaged in violent public declarations against the Administration.
All this fuss because a teacher expressed her support of ICE. And now she is suspended and being investigated. I always thought talking about the weather was a relatively safe thing to do. Especially with this latest winter storm blast.
Seriously it sounds like this teacher should demand a worthy settlement and then depart for greener and warmer pastures I suspect if she just moved laterally she would be welcome in Iowa or Indiana. She can join the bumper to bumper traffic leaving Illinois.
Of course moving south would usually be a good route to warmth although not this week.
Meanwhile in Washington, the federal government is hiring more ICE agents.
A free speech community where you are discouraged from reading what you want to read and told SFU all the time.
JT talks about a teacher being suspended. Maybe. How about court order violations of the trump administration?
“Judge Schlitz, the chief federal judge in Minnesota, has ordered the head of ICE, Todd Lyons, to [appear] in court Friday and threatened him with contempt for the agency’s repeated violation of court orders,”
Law and order administration? yea right.
Cancel culture has an enemy. The national policy to remove those illegally present in the nation. The teacher’s words speak to ICE: GO ICE! The cancel attempt is silly, because it misses the real message of the government, made directly to those illegally present: GO! ICE! This is more silly, because the real cancel waiting in the wings is federal funding for the West Chicago School District.
The “left” in our country wants everyone to see and believe as they do, yet they can’t see their nose even when it’s in front of them. They need to quit trying to change the world as they see it.
Viva Free Speech BUT when one is in the middle of a woke mob (and yes the Teachers Unions are woke mobs!) bent on vengeance against anyone (including its own wokeratti) it may be best to show support anonymously – as can be done here! Lest the mob identify you and extract its vengeance while identifying itself as moronic hypocrites – Peace, Love, and Joy as long as you agree with us OR the mob will lynch you. Only in the Bizzaro World of Lefties!!!
“go Ice” sounded to me like what the Guv and Mydr have been saying–except for the lackk of. profanity. It is so exhausting trying to keep up.
NO! Absolutely NOT! Stand for what you believe in and when they do their stupid stuff like suspension or firing, sue them into oblivion…
This education facility should be closed down it is of no value to anyone one attending
The school district in question is clearly violating the First Amendment. Their actions reflect the desperation of those who cannot tolerate competition in the marketplace of ideas. They seem to believe that they alone have the right to free speech: any contradictions are unacceptable. The relative lack of conservative educators is both a result of and a cause of this narrow-minded approach, which silences those who oppose liberal values and opinions. For several decades these folks have been given free rein to indoctrinate students with values and opinions that are diametrically opposed to our Constitution. Our opportunity to right this ship is narrowing, as we watch our country morph into something no longer recognizable as America.
So the onus of this is a teacher said “Go ICE” on social media and because she identified as a teacher the public reacted negatively because she expressed support for ICE. Why would that be a surprise?
Right now “ICE” is seen as toxic as Neo-Nazism. Yeah, it’s that bad. While the teacher had every right to express her view on social media and it is protected speech it does not protect her from the consequence of exercising it. People can call for her firing, suspension, ouster, etc. all they want. She can be investigated as well. But firing her for it is absolutely going too far and I will agree with Professor Turley on this point. Because the same happened when Charlie Kirk was killed and some teachers celebrated or expressed their approval of Kirk’s death many on the right demanded said professors or teachers be fired. Some did and then got reinstated after a short court battle. Turley barely covered these cases, but he still, in passing, opposed calls to fire these teachers and professors.
Again, this teacher had every right to express her support for ICE. But, it also exposed herself to the ire and anger of the public and clearly the 1st amendment does not protect anyone from the consequences of expressing an unpopular view.
Oh oh crazy george.
“So the onus of this is a teacher said “Go ICE” on social media and because she identified as a teacher the public reacted negatively because she expressed support for ICE. Why would that be a surprise?”
Nope.
X She could have posted this on the wall of her classroom and not been an issue.
Please pay the slightest attention to First amendment SCOTUS rulings.
FIRE has represented both those on the right and those on the left over issues like this.
She could be fired if she was a private school teacher, she also could be promoted if she was a private school teacher.
But Government can not sanction anyone with respect to their free speech, and even in the extremely rare instance that it can – it MUST do so in a viewpoint neutral manner.
For what YOU claim to be correct Chicago would have to fire ever teacher that posted in any way about ICE or Immigration on Social media if there was the slightest indication that they were a teacher.
What you can not do is speak on a political issue in a way that suggests it is the official position of the public institution, if you are not a person authorized to do so.
It is also generally unwise for those in government to speak politically on official social media accounts – but it occurs anyway.
John Say,
“X She could have posted this on the wall of her classroom and not been an issue.”
No, she couldn’t have posted this on the classroom wall. If teachers are prohibited from putting statements like “All are welcome” inside their classrooms — as many anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) opponents do — then posting a slogan such as “GO ICE” would be equally political, especially given the current highly polarized climate around immigration enforcement.
Nobody is suggesting that the teacher cannot express her support for ICE on her personal social media accounts, like Facebook. The problem arose because she exposed herself to consequences outside of her profession and compromised the trust her students, parents, and colleagues place in her as an educator.
The school district is free to conduct a thorough investigation into her social media activity. However, terminating her employment solely based on her expressed support for ICE — which falls under protected speech — should not be considered an acceptable action. As you pointed out, if the statement had been posted on the school’s official Facebook page, the context and implications might be different.
While members of the community and colleagues may call for her dismissal or punishment, the school’s authority is limited to responding within legal and ethical boundaries. They might attempt to placate public outrage by launching an investigation and possibly citing her views as grounds for termination, but her support for ICE is a form of protected speech. Similar issues have arisen in cases where educators publicly expressed opinions about Charlie Kirk’s death, prompting demands for their firing. Many schools initially complied, only to be later forced by courts to reinstate them because their dismissals violated First Amendment rights, highlighting the importance of safeguarding free expression even in contentious situations.
The left/libs are so peaceful. Right george
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in West Virginia announced Sunday evening that a librarian was under arrest after she posted videos seeking to recruit assassins targeting President Donald Trump.
Morgan L. Morrow of Ripley, West Virginia, was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat, the agency posted on its Facebook page. The arrest was announced at 9:31 p.m. Eastern time, hours after Libs of TikTok posted the videos on X earlier Sunday evening.
No indication here whether or not the unnamed teacher actually did identify as a teacher on Facebook. Maybe the teacher did and maybe the teacher didn’t. It is just as possible Facebook and other commonly used social media of every suspected conservative teacher is being actively monitored by the local Bolsheviks of the teacher’s union for anything that could be used against them, whether or not they identify on those sites as a teacher.
Do we know that the teacher is a she? Physical education teacher posting Go Ice seems more like a he.
“Right now “ICE” is seen as toxic as Neo-Nazism.”
Not by most people.
There is difference between concern over the recent shooting, and stupid left wing nuts pretending that enforcing immigration law is somehow
authoritarian.
Frankly all it does is expose how much of a moron those of you on the left are.
While I think Schumer is stupid threatening a shutdown to “defund ICE” – that is atleast a response that has the remotest possibility of accomplishing something.
I(f you have a problem with illegration law and its enforcement – take that up with Congress.
” Yeah, it’s that bad.”
Only in your head.
Rassmussen TODAY has Trump at 47% That is his highest approval since October.
Recent CNN polling finds that in every one of the top 5 concerns of Voters Republicans are ahead of Democrats.
On immigration they are +18
In a Harvard Harris poll a few days ago – 80% of people want ALL criminal illegal immigrants deported.
56% want ALL illegal immigrants deported – there are atleast 35M illegal immigrants int he US right now.
We could continue deportations at the current rate for a decade and still barely deport half of them.
It is absolutely true that independents are AT THE MOMENT upset that someone has died.
It is always a tragedy when someone dies.
As is common – people want conflicting things – they WANT all criminal illegals deported,
and the WANT that does with no violence or rioting.
The violence and rioting is on YOU.
While your LIES regarding ICE have for the moment gained SOME traction.
I would remind you how well all your other lie have worked in the long run.
the Pretti shooting has resulted in some negotiation.
Purportedly Walz called the WH and talked to Trump. Levitt suggested there was an agreement along similar but more detailed lines to Bondi’s letter – that MN would give ICE access to jails and prison, that it would notify ICE of all arrests of illegals, that it would share current address information for illegals with outstanding deportation orders.
Frankly I will beleive Walz has agreed to someone when I see it.
But Large numbers of republicans have been begging Trump to invoke the insurrection act.
That is an enormous amount of leverage with Walz.
So we will see.
Separately Bovino is headed elsewhere and Homan who reports directly to Trump is headed to MN.
Homan is NOT officially part of DHS/ICE he is the WH Border Czar.
There was purportedly a disagreement between Homan and DHS/Noem/Bovino regarding tactics.
Regardless, there is likely a change in tactics coming.
But if you think the deportation of Criminal illegals is at an end you are nuts.
And if you think that deporting criminal illegals is unpopular – you are nuts beyond beleif.
” While the teacher had every right to express her view on social media and it is protected speech it does not protect her from the consequence of exercising it. People can call for her firing, suspension, ouster, etc. all they want.”
Correct.
“She can be investigated as well.”
Not by government.
” But firing her for it is absolutely going too far and I will agree with Professor Turley on this point.”
It is unconstitutional for government to fire a non-policy making employee for protected speech outside of work.
In SOME instances it is illegal to fire them for the same speech inside of work.
Government employees generally have LIMITED rights to free expression with respect to their workplace.
But they may not go beyond expression in their personal space to actual political action in the work place.
“Because the same happened when Charlie Kirk was killed and some teachers celebrated or expressed their approval of Kirk’s death many on the right demanded said professors or teachers be fired. Some did and then got reinstated after a short court battle. Turley barely covered these cases, but he still, in passing, opposed calls to fire these teachers and professors.”
Turley fairly extensively covered those cases. But you as always try to make the complex simple.
Of course most of the complexity is because there is no legitimate role for govenrment in Education.
Regardless, the free speech protections of a public school teacher, a public college proffessor, a college professor at a private college that receives govenrment funds, a private school teacher and en employee of a private business are EACH different.
Again complexity created by dragging government where it does not belong.
Regardless, you can not fire a government employee for speech outside the workplace that does not purport to represent the part of government they are employed by.
Still there is a giant gulf between “Go ICE” and “I am glad Kirk is dead”
people who celebrate the death of those they disagree with are vile.
Few if any are celebrating the death of Good or Pretti.
They are tragedies. Neither should have died.
Nearly everyone WANTS a world where the law can be enforced without anyone dying.
But as I keep trying to get through to numbutzs like you
ALL GOVERNMENT IS FORCE.
Ultimately ALL LAW IS ENFORCED BY MEN WITH GUNS.
As Mao said
“power grows out of the barrel of a gun”
If you are unwilling to have some people DIE in the enforcement of a law – do NOT pass that law.
This is AGAIN why Government MUST be limited.
Because Government is FORCE.
I do find it odd that those of you on th left Still seem tho think that Killing PRetti and Good is unaccepable,
but killing Babbet and Boylan was.
While there are differences in the law regarding the use of force – the Babbet shooting and the Boylan murder were CLEARLY unjustified.
It is still true that all 4 were killed for Challenging Government conduct they did not like.
“Again, this teacher had every right to express her support for ICE. But, it also exposed herself to the ire and anger of the public and clearly the 1st amendment does not protect anyone from the consequences of expressing an unpopular view.”
Depends on the consequences.
You keep missing that.
I doubt this teacher is likely to remain in the Chicago schools.
There will likely be some settlement and she will take money and leave.
If she remains she will be ostracised.
If she leaves – there are plenty of places in this country that will WELCOME her – even celebrate her as a hero.
Yes, Speech can have consequences.
Often you learn who the sane people are.
“illegration law” – a Freudian slip?
Professor Turley’s comments would have been coals to Newcastle in those cases; the injustice (which it was) was trumpeted across the mainstream media. There will be crickets in most places about this one.
Also, the article does mention the teacher with the pronoun “he,” though given Professor Turley’s predilection for typos, that might not be reliable.
Leftwing fascists are the least tolerant people in the world. They are a disgusting mob.
Question please. Have you ever met or engaged with “leftwing fascists”, except on this blog or imagination?
Absolutely. All the time. While not all that large in numbers – they are all over the place.
BTW ALL Fascists are left wing – by definition.
Fascism according to its founder Musolini
Everything in the government
nothing outside the government
nothing against the govenrment.
Sounds like virtually every left wing nut ever – of course ONLY when THEY control government.
Come to Seattle in the downtown area. Theses loons are everywhere.
No wonder Starbucks left the Pikes place market.
West Chicago is not part of Chicago; their teachers are not part of the Chicago Teacher’s Union.
Go ICE!