SALT LAKE CITY — The shooting death of Charlie Kirk has brought freedom of speech into the spotlight, not only for his words, but for those who have been fired from their positions over social media posts following the activist's death.
Prior to the Utah Valley University shooting, former Utah Poet Laureate, Paisley Rekdal, was scheduled to speak at the Air Force Academy, a lecture that was canceled, she believes, over comments she’s made on social media.
Several months ago, Rekdal received an invitation to talk to the school about her book, The Broken Country.
“The Air Force wanted me to talk to the cadets about transgenerational and transcultural effects of war," she explained. “Evidently, someone from the [Air Force Academy] had been looking through my social media accounts and had seen posts where I was critical of Donald Trump’s policies. They said they were told this was in violation of the spirit of the Air Force Academy desire to make a non-political reading series."
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Rekdal's description of the events that occurred were backed up the Academy.
"Upon further review of this year’s invited speaker, the Academy determined some of her public comments were disparaging of the Commander-in-Chief," an Air Force Academy spokesperson said. "While we welcome and will continue to invite speakers who encourage vigorous debate on a variety of subjects, we have chosen not to move forward with this speaking engagement, consistent with the U.S. Air Force Academy’s non-partisan obligation."
Salt Lake City attorney Adam Alba has litigated many First Amendment cases in his career.
“What the First Amendment generally says is that it protects individuals from government restrictions on speech; now it doesn’t guarantee speech without consequences from private actors, like your employer, or social media platform," Alba explained
Alba added that Rekdal has the right to speak critically of the President’s policies, but that the Academy's revocation of its invitation is most likely not a violation of her First Amendment speech rights.
“Traditionally, the military bodies have more freedom to regulate speech," he said.
Following the cancellation, Colorado College extended Rekdal an invitation to their school, where she was scheduled to speak, just a few hours after Kirk was killed.
"Suddenly, they were wondering, do we need more event security, and they provided that," she said. "They had people leave their bags at the door."
“I don’t think anyone is targeting me. I’m not really that afraid, but the fact that we’re even having this conversation. The fact that people are worried about bringing in additional security to poetry readings, to literary gatherings, this is where we’re at."
Now, free speech remains at the top of mind for many people across the country.
“You can’t have a free and open society if people are afraid," said Rekdal, "and if we are targeting each other for ideas we disagree with."
