Family sues Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, saying free speech rights violated after Charlie Kirk assassination
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – The parents of a student at Ardrey Kell High School have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system of violating their daughter’s constitutional rights.
Their daughter was one of three students who painted the spirit rock at Ardrey Kell High School after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
School district officials called the painting vandalism at the time and said they had contacted law enforcement for a criminal investigation.
Weeks later, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools publicly walked that message back, saying the student had not vandalized the rock, and that there was never a criminal investigation.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, Dec. 8 in the Western District of North Carolina, says the district’s updated message came after weeks of failing to respond to requests from the parents who asked school officials several times to publicly correct the record.
Representing the parents are attorneys affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based group focused on conservative Christian issues and a heavyweight in cases that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a recent profile of the group, the New York Times reported that they were involved in numerous challenges before the Supreme Court to transgender rights, abortion access and charter school issues.
Monday’s lawsuit accuses the school district of violating the Ardrey Kell student’s constitutional rights to free speech and due process. The lawsuit also accuses the district of discriminating against differing viewpoints when deciding which student causes to support.
Phone records accompanying the lawsuit show the daughter had contacted school officials before painting the rock. The lawsuit said she told the school about the Charlie Kirk-related message that she and her friends planned to paint, and was given permission by the staff member who answered the phone.
In the aftermath of the painting, the lawsuit accuses Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools of rapidly painting over the message and then issuing new guidance about what could be painted on the rock, which has featured Black Lives Matter messages in the past.
The lawsuit also accuses district officials of interrogating the students involved and pulling their cell phone records without informing them of their rights. The lawsuit said those actions were part of the “criminal investigation” the school had first announced – though officials now say that such an investigation didn’t happen.
Officials for the school district, which does not typically comment on pending litigation, could not be immediately reached for a response.
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