Judicial Watch has filed a First Amendment complaint on behalf of an Illinois teacher who was fired after criticizing the riots, looting and other violence that erupted in Chicago after the death of George Floyd last May .
Jeanne Hedgepeth, of Palatine, 35 miles northwest of Willis Tower, posted the posts on her personal Facebook account during summer recess after the end of the school year, the conservative legal group said in a statement . She did not swap jobs with current students or colleagues, and the profile made no mention of her employer.
Floyd was killed on May 25 in an incident that was videotaped and led to a murder conviction for one of the four Minneapolis police officers involved. Three others are still awaiting trial.
An article Hedgepeth wrote on Facebook while on vacation in Florida during Chicago’s worst unrest the weekend after George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota.
(Judicial watch)
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In the days that followed, protests and riots broke out across the country. This weekend in Chicago, which saw extensive looting, 82 people were shot dead, 19 of them fatally. The Chicago Sun-Times described Sunday, May 31, as the most violent day Windy City has known in 60 years.
“I don’t want to go home tomorrow,†Hedgepeth wrote on Facebook that day, while on vacation in Florida. “Now that the civil war has started, I want to move.”
Chicago police officers and protesters clash during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Chicago on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Floyd died after being arrested and detained by Minneapolis Police on Memorial Day in Minnesota. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)
“Follow your instinct!” Someone replied, to which Hedgepeth replied, “I need a gun and some training.”
She also shared a meme about riot control using a water cannon hooked up to a septic truck and wrote a long June 1 post referring to racing, crime and the media:
“I’m talking about facts, truth-seeking and love. I’ll talk about any topic I choose because I live in a free country. I find the term ‘white privilege’ as racist as the word ‘ N “. Shoes either, so don’t make assumptions about me and my so-called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you were fooled by the white liberal establishment and race goons like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton Travel the world and see that every nation has racism and some more than others, but few make the effort like we do to alleviate or eliminate it I have lived and seen. The people who informed me about the experience of black people in America are actually some of the smartest people in America. And they happen to be black. I highly recommend studying Thomas Sowell, who is now retired and in the 80s A treasure A seeker of truth. [D]oes REAL research and analysis. Candice Owens is one of America’s smartest and bravest women and Larry Elders speaks the truth with a great sense of humor and FACTS, not feelings. They’re the ones I listen to when it comes to facts about the black experience in America. Don’t you think there is a deeper problem than racism when 50% of murders in America are committed by 13% of the population? Do you think there could be a subtle genocide of black babies when most planned parenthood is put in poor neighborhoods and 30% of abortions are black babies. [B]lack of women make up only 7% of the US population. The greatest power you have is what you think of yourself. [W]What have the Democrats, the mainstream media and the intellectuals in the Ivory Towers been telling the black community to believe in them for forty years? Wake up and stop believing them, then things will change. “
Two weeks later, a Facebook group called D211 Community for Justice, a reference to District 211, where Hedgepeth worked, urged residents to email school board members and convict her. In the end, the board voted 5-2 to let her go.
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“It’s a free country – there’s this thing called the First Amendment,” said lawyer Christine Svenson, who is assisting Judicial Watch in the case. “A person has the right to talk about matters of public interest on their personal Facebook post, and it has absolutely nothing to do with their work.”
She told Fox News on Tuesday that cases like this should give Americans reason to fear the state of cancellation of culture and censorship.
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“This woman was away from her job, the school year was over and she is being fired for expressing her views on the world,†Svenson said. “People should be really scared and people should be ready to stand up, because if they’re not ready to do it again, we’re going to be, I mean we’re going to be North Korea, we’re going to be being China, we’re going to be Venezuela very quickly… we’re halfway there. “
And she also praised prominent black conservatives like radio host Larry Elder, activists Candice Owes and scholar Thomas Sowell, the latter of which she called a “treasure” and “seeker of truth.” “.
The lawsuit names Township High School District 211, members of the board of directors, and officials who were directly involved in the shooting.
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“The school district has taken what could have been a good time for learning to respect diverse perspectives and turned it into a blatant violation of civil rights,” said Judicial Watch President Tom. Fitton, in a statement. “Jeanne Hedgepeth had every right to express herself freely and openly on her personal Facebook page, outside of school, on matters of undeniable public interest. Firing her for it violated the First Amendment, and the school district and district officials who did it will. be held responsible. “
