Clemson professor sued over Charlie Kirk firing. They reached a settlement
A Clemson University professor that had been fired over online comments following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last fall, sued the school in October 2025. Now he and the school have reached a mediated agreement.
Students and state legislators pressured Clemson to fire several staff members after they had made social media posts about Kirk’s assassination in September, including Joshua Bregy, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science.
Bregy shared a post written on another Facebook profile that said “I’ll never advocate for violence in any form, but it sounds to me like karma is sometimes swift and ironic. As Kirk said, ‘play certain games, win certain prizes,” but prefaced by saying that “violence is never okay.”
As public pressure mounted to fire Bregy and two other staffers, Clemson “caved,” the lawsuit said. Days later, they terminated the three employees.
Officials told Bregy he was fired for “blatantly unprofessional conduct” that violated Clemson standards and disrupted the university’s responsibilities, according to a letter obtained by The State through a public records request.
But at the time of Bregy’s firing, legal experts told The State that Clemson could face litigation for its actions. Most Clemson employee’s speech is protected under the First Amendment because it is a public institution. The only exception is “fighting words,” or statements that incite immediate violence. If the speech had disrupted the classroom setting, that may also be considered unprotected.
Greenville federal Judge Jacquelyn Austin dismissed the case Jan. 6 after Bregy and Clemson officials reached a settlement. The agreement allows Bregy to resume his position through the spring. He will not be allowed to teach, research or interact with students under the terms of the agreement. However, his pay and benefits will be restored through the end of his contract this spring.
Bregy agreed to resign May 15, and Provost Robert H. Jones has agreed to provide positive letters of recommendation to potential employers based on his classroom teaching, the ACLU of South Carolina announced.
“We were honored to represent Dr. Bregy and to reach an agreement that restores his employment, allows him to continue to pursue research funding, and deters the university from violating the First Amendment rights of its faculty in the future,” Allen Chaney, the legal director for the ACLU of South Carolina, said in a statement. “Politicians and university administrators come and go, but years from now we will still be here. So will the U.S. Constitution.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 2:10 PM.
