A Georgia educator, once a finalist for Teacher of the Year, has filed a lawsuit against her school district following her suspension due to social media remarks concerning the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk.

Michelle Mickens, an English teacher at a high school in Oglethorpe County, made a controversial post on her private Facebook page just hours after the tragic incident involving Kirk.

Charlie Kirk, aged 30 and the founder of the right-wing organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. Authorities have labeled the attack as politically motivated.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, stands accused of aggravated murder and faces multiple charges, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

According to prosecutors, Robinson meticulously planned the attack for over a week, ultimately executing it from a rooftop at 12:23 p.m. as Kirk was engaging with students during the inaugural event of his ‘American Comeback Tour’ hosted by Turning Point USA.

Kirk was struck once in the neck in front of horrified students and died shortly after.

According to court filings, Robinson had become increasingly radicalized online, expressing deep animosity toward Kirk’s politics in the months before the shooting.

Kirk’s death sparked national outrage and condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans.

The killing also ignited a fierce online backlash, with hardened liberals celebrating his death and posting mocking memes.

Mickens was a finalist in the 2022 Teacher of the Year event, which celebrates ‘outstanding’ public school teachers in Georgia 

Lawmakers and advocacy groups denounced the posts as ‘abhorrent,’ warning that they reflected the toxic polarization consuming American political life.

Mickens, the 2022 Teacher of the Year finalist, who has taught for more than 20 years, is now suing the Oglethorpe County School System, claiming it urged her to resign and violated her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Mickens said in the complaint that her ‘private, out-of-the-workplace’ comments ‘did not harm her employer or disrupt her workplace,’ according to court documents viewed by Daily Mail.

Her Facebook post quoted a remark Kirk had once made about gun violence: ‘I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.’

Mickens, a Teacher of the Year finalist, claims in her lawsuit that the school’s ‘retaliatory’ action against her violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment 

Mickens said while she doesn’t ‘condone violence of any kind,’ Kirk, who was assassinated in September, was ‘a horrible person’ who was ‘full of hate’

The lawsuit says Mickens engaged in a brief ‘back and forth’ with friends online, criticizing Kirk but condemning political violence.

She wrote: ‘I don’t condone violence of any kind, and I certainly don’t condone this, but he was a horrible person, a fascist full of hate for anyone who was different… While I’m sad we live in a country where gun violence is an epidemic, the world is a bit safer without him.’

The next day, she was called to the principal’s office and told the school had received a complaint. Mickens later discovered that a former classmate had shared screenshots of her post on X (formerly Twitter), urging users to contact the principal and demand her removal.

‘[Mickens] claims Charlie Kirk was a ‘fascist full of hate’ and ‘the world is a bit safer without him,’ the viral post read. ‘Let principal Bill Sampson know what you think of letting someone like her teaching children.’

According to the complaint, the school told Mickens it did not want her to return.

Mickens, who only joined the Oglethorpe County school system in 2024, has taught for more than two decades and had never received a complaint throughout her career. She had earned two positive formal evaluations since joining the district, according to the filing.

The lawsuit also states that the school had already found a replacement teacher for her class before she was formally told not to return, a move her lawyers say shows administrators had made up their minds before any review took place.

The filing says Mickens maintains two separate Facebook accounts – one professional and one private – and that the personal page does not include any students, parents or school employees except for close friends.

Her attorneys argue that the district has no clear social-media policy governing teachers’ off-duty speech, and that she was unfairly punished while other staff were allowed to express pro-Kirk views on campus.

‘While Ms. Mickens has been on leave, other district employees who expressed pro-Charlie Kirk views were not disciplined for their expressive conduct,’ the complaint states.

Michelle Mickens, 55, has sued the Oglethorpe school district for an alleged unconstitutional firing for comments she posted on her Facebook account regarding Charlie Kirk 

Mickens had not received a complaint throughout her 20-year teaching career, the lawsuit stated 

The filing claims that some teachers wore ‘pro-Kirk’ T-shirts at school, participated in memorial events marking his birthday, and displayed shirts emblazoned with the word ‘Freedom’ and Christian crosses in his honor.

Her lawyer, Michael Tafelski, said in a statement that Mickens was ‘being targeted not because she violated any policy or harmed students but because her personal views – expressed outside the classroom – don’t align with those in power.’

‘This unconstitutional censorship of protected speech endangers a healthy democracy,’ Tafelski added. ‘We look forward to defending Ms. Mickens to ensure she can continue serving her students without fear of politically motivated retaliation.’

Mickens is seeking reinstatement, removal of disciplinary references from her record, and unspecified damages for lost wages, emotional distress and reputational harm.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Oglethorpe County School District officials and Mickens’s legal team for comment.