Being neither for nor against Charlie Kirk, only because I never followed Kirk and knew nothing about him or his positions, I had nothing to contribute after his assassination beyond the fact that no one should be harmed, no less killed, for their political views. It’s beyond ironic, then, that 20-year combat veteran turned Tennessee public employee was fired hours after making a comment in reply to a friend’s Facebook post.

Was Charlie Kirk a white supremacist? It’s irrelevant. Would you have written this reply? It’s irrelevant. Do you think Monica Meeks’ reply was terrible? It’s irrelevant. Monica Meeks has a right to express her opinion, right or wrong, offensive or not. And yet, she was fired from her job with the State of Tennessee.

After serving 20 years in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in Iraq, Monica joined the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance in 2016. Since joining the department, Monica has received stellar performance reviews and regular raises.

“I’ve never backed down from a fight in my life, and I don’t plan to start now,” said Monica. “I took an oath to defend the Constitution. Now, it’s time to stand up for it again.”

Meeks’ comment bore no relation to her position with the state, and even public employees are entitled to their First Amendment rights.

Only 15 or so X accounts called for Monica to be fired in response to an unrelated post by the Department on the afternoon of September 12. That includes comments marked as “probable spam,” and posts from anonymous accounts like “Bonerville Asskicker” and “NonGMOKaren.” But Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence publicly announced her firing mere hours later, and sent a termination letter to Monica’s inbox. Lawrence’s letter mentioned no other performance issues whatsoever, nor any disruption to department operations, and made clear he was firing Monica solely for her lone “inflammatory and insulting comment” on Facebook.

When the woke left sought to cancel people for being racist by swarming and demanding that employers fire them for their heresy, it was wrong. It’s no less wrong when it’s the woke right doing the same.

Lawrence’s rush to fire Monica violated Supreme Court precedent, which established a three-prong test to determine when a government employee’s speech is constitutionally protected and cannot be punished by the state. First, the employee must speak “as a citizen” rather than as an employee. Second, the speech must involve “a matter of public concern.” Third, the employee’s interest in exercising their right to free expression must outweigh the state’s interest in ensuring effective government operations.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has taken up Meeks’ case, arguing that she fully satisfies the three prongs of the Pickering test.

1. Monica clearly went to great lengths to establish that she was speaking as a private citizen. Her Facebook had a disclaimer that her views were hers and hers alone, and her profile didn’t even mention that she worked for the department.
2. Monica’s post obviously involved a matter of public concern. The fact that others might vehemently disagree with her view of Kirk doesn’t change the fact that it was a major news story with political reverberations across the country.
3. There is no evidence Monica’s post had any disruptive effect on the department or her work for it. Lawrence’s letter cited complaints about the post by members of the public, but there’s no evidence any coworkers complained, or that her opinions on Kirk would in any way impede her ability to investigate financial services fraud. It was hostility to Monica’s politics that drove the decision — not any legitimate government concern.

If you’re outraged by Meeks’ comment, don’t invite her to dinner. Don’t hang out with her. And if you happen to see her, feel free to express your view that her comment was offensive. But just as it was wrong for the woke left to demand that speakers be de-platformed, be fired, be ostracized from woke society, for expressing views or using language that defied the woke orthodoxy, it is no less wrong that she be fired from a position because the “woke right” decided that it would play the same game, except this time on behalf of Charlie Kirk.

Even worse, however, at least private employers can legally, if wrongfully, fire at-will employees. When a government entity does it, however, it has very different implications.

“You may disagree with Monica’s take on Charlie Kirk. But letting a few angry individuals get a public employee fired for off-the-clock speech, even when it has no impact on the workplace, will inevitably boomerang back on people with views you do support,” said FIRE staff attorney Cary Davis. “When public employees are forced into silence for fear of offending someone on the internet, we all lose.”

While there are certain constraints on the free speech of public employees, they do not lose all First Amendment rights and the state cannot retaliate against them for their personal views, Once again, FIRE is standing up for First Amendment rights without regard to which side of the political divide is involved.