Fired Iowa Teacher Sues District Over Charlie Kirk Facebook Post

A former art teacher in Oskaloosa, Iowa, has filed an 8-page lawsuit against the school district and Superintendent Michael Fisher after being fired over a social media post about Charlie Kirk’s death. Matthew Kargol was terminated following a unanimous school board vote in response to his Facebook post reading “1 Nazi down,” which sparked community outrage, more than 1,200 calls to the school, and a student absence rate of 8% the following day. Kargol’s lawsuit argues his firing violated his right to free speech, claiming the post was rhetorical hyperbole made on personal time and not disruptive to the classroom environment, while district officials maintain the decision followed federal and state law due to the substantial disruption it caused.