Indiana Gov. Mike Braun warned Wednesday that teachers who post online celebrating political violence could have their licenses suspended or revoked — a move that civil liberties advocates say risks chilling lawful speech and violating constitutional protections.
“Teachers play a critical role in the shaping of our youth,” Braun wrote on X. “As a result, we hold them to a higher standard. The vast majority of Indiana’s educators live up to that standard; but sadly, in recent days a few have not.”
Braun’s comments followed the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college speaking event last week. The governor said disagreement “should never lead to the type of horrific tragedy we witnessed last week,” and called some social media posts about Kirk’s death “terrible.”
“While we must protect the First Amendment, calls for political violence are not freedom of speech and should not be tolerated,” Braun wrote. He emphasized that Indiana’s Secretary of Education has the authority to suspend or revoke licenses for misconduct and will review reported statements from K-12 educators and administrators.
David Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech, said Braun’s threat raises “serious” constitutional concerns. “I don’t understand why he would call for suspending, like revoking, a teacher’s license,” he said, noting Indiana typically revokes licenses for criminal acts or serious misconduct.
Keating added that “calls for political violence” can still be protected under the First Amendment unless they meet the legal definition of incitement. “You’re allowed to call for violent overthrow of the government. You’re allowed to even call for assassinations,” he said. “Obviously, this is not the sort of thing that you want an elementary school teacher to have in their background. But I don’t think it meets the standards for a license revocation.”
The Indiana Department of Education said Thursday it is reviewing social media comments from a small number of educators following Kirk’s assassination but would not comment on active investigations. The agency explained that it investigates complaints to determine if they meet the statutory threshold for suspension or revocation, then files a formal complaint with the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings if warranted.
Licenses can be suspended for up to three years or revoked indefinitely. Teachers may petition for reinstatement after three years. Most revocations in Indiana result from criminal convictions; since Jan. 1, at least 25 licenses have been revoked, mostly for serious felonies, and several for “immorality” or “misconduct.”
Stevie Pactor, an attorney with the ACLU of Indiana, warned that Braun’s comments could have a “chilling” effect. “Teachers still have First Amendment rights when they’re talking as private citizens about matters of public concern,” she said. “This idea of chilling their speech is absolutely where my mind went to.”
Pactor noted that school districts can only punish teachers’ speech if it causes a significant disruption to learning or impairs a school’s operation — a high legal standard. Licensing actions, she said, face the same constitutional constraints. “If the state proceeds with discipline, I would certainly expect it to be challenged in court,” she said.
Braun’s threat comes as other educators and public employees face fallout for social media posts about Kirk’s death. A state Department of Child Services worker resigned after a controversial comment, and Ball State University fired a director after a Facebook post caused “significant disruption” on campus. Attorney General Todd Rokita has directed his office to investigate similar statements by K-12 teachers through his “Eyes on Education” portal.
The Indiana State Teachers Association condemned political violence but warned that threatening educators’ licenses for lawful speech risks silencing them. “Political violence threatens our democracy, but so does censorship,” the union said.
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