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A Panhandle biologist is suing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after being fired for sharing a post about the murder of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk. 

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union argue the firing violated her First Amendment rights.

On her personal Instagram account, Brittney Brown shared a post from the satire account “Whale Facts” that read the following: 

the whales are deeply saddened to learn of the shooting of harlie Kirk, haha just kidding, they care exactly as much as charlie kirk cared about children being shot in their classrooms, which is to say, not at all

The post, alongside Brown’s employment information, was later doxxed by a conservative social media account. Soon afterward, she was fired.

Carrie McNamara, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida, said it’s an attack on First Amendment rights.  

“There’s a real concerted assault on free speech and people’s ability to just comment about the most pressing political issues of the day, which is necessary in order for us to have a society where we debate and flag these ideas,” McNamara said.

In a press release, the ACLU of Florida called the firing “retaliation.”

“Ms. Brown was fired very dramatically and quickly, for political purposes. It was clear that she was being made an example of to scare other state employees across the state,” McNamara said.

The ACLU of Florida is preparing a preliminary injunction calling for her employment to be reinstated.

The Florida FWC did not respond to WMNF’s request for comment.

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