Acolytes of the far-right activist urged employers to fire his critics. Now those who were terminated are suing and claiming their right to free speech<\/p>\n
Julie Strebe, a 55-year-old sheriff\u2019s deputy in the small Bible belt town of Salem, Missouri, was on a date with her husband at a Buffalo Wild Wings when her husband slid his phone across the table. On Facebook, people were demanding Strebe\u2019s immediate termination, calling her a \u201cwacko\u201d with \u201cextreme mental health issues\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was the afternoon of 13 September 2025, just a few days after Charlie Kirk had been killed by a sniper\u2019s bullet on a college campus. Shortly after his assassination, Strebe had posted on her personal Facebook page: \u201cEmpathy is not owed to oppressors.\u201d In comments underneath, she did not mince words. She called Kirk a racist, a sexist, an antisemite and the kind of person who wants to see gay people, like her own son, stoned to death. \u201cI don\u2019t feel bad,\u201d she says, months later, speaking from her home. \u201cI refuse to feel bad for this man, and the hateful things he stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n