- BIG STORY: Debate over free speech erupts after S.C. employees fired
- MORE NEWS: Legislators win awards from Riley Institute, Chamber
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Dept. of Wars
- BRACK: Read more to vanquish cultural attention deficit disorder
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Squat brick building
- FEEDBACK: Keep at it
Debate over free speech erupts after S.C. employees fired
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | A wave of firings broke across South Carolina and the nation in recent days as scores of everyday Americans lost their jobs for comments made in the hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s shocking Sept. 10 murder.
At least 10 of the firings to date have involved college and local government employees in the Palmetto State, including professors at Clemson, the University of South Carolina and Coastal Carolina University, as well as four Greenville County educators and public safety workers.
The S.C. dismissals are taking place amid what critics call a larger Trump administration crackdown on free speech — and follow threats by Republican leaders to defund state institutions that refuse to act against workers whose social media posts celebrated or made light of Kirk’s killing.
“Clemson faculty is inciting violence against conservatives,” S.C. Rep. and Freedom Caucus Chair Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley, wrote in a Sept. 13 social media post that was shared by President Donald Trump. “It’s time for a special session to end this. Defund Clemson.”
On Sept. 15, S.C. Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson wrote a letter to Clemson President James Clements arguing the controversial comments were not speech that was protected by the First Amendment in the context of state employment.
“The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it does not shield threats, glorification of violence or behavior that undermines the mission of our state institutions,” Wilson said. “Clemson, and any state university in South Carolina, should not be paralyzed by fear of prosecution when dealing with employees who publicly endorse political violence.”
Following Clemson’s Sept. 16 decision to fire three employees, Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters that the school “handled it appropriately.”
But S.C. free speech advocates argued the dismissals were a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.
“The First Amendment protects people from being punished by the government for speech,” ACLU of S.C. spokesman Paul Bowers told Statehouse Report on Sept. 18. “And for the past week, the most powerful politicians in South Carolina have been using the power of the state to punish their perceived political enemies.”
In the days since Kirk’s murder, that age-old American debate — personal accountability versus the right of Americans to speak their minds — has raged among lawmakers, business leaders and citizens across the Palmetto State.
The case for ‘action’
In a Sept. 18 interview, Greenville Republican Rep. Stephen Frank, a member of the hard-right S.C. Freedom Caucus, called his response to Kirk’s death “unexpected.”
“I was really surprised by my own emotional reaction,” Frank said. “I didn’t know Charlie Kirk, but felt something deeply and strongly about his assassination.”
That feeling, he told Statehouse Report, arose from a sense that Kirk was killed for saying things that he and other conservatives believe.
“So when you see responses celebrating, defending, justifying his assassination, on a human level it’s just horrific,” Frank said.
That’s why he’s demanded action to punish state employees, particularly teachers and college professors, whose “repulsive” social media comments crossed that line, he said.
“I think what you’re seeing is the appropriate human response when educators are defending or even celebrating murder, which is to push back and hold these folks accountable,” Frank said.
That said, Frank noted that he is not among those who’ve called on private companies to take similar action.
“The free market can handle that,” Frank said, noting that boycotts and other consumer actions, such as the recent pushback against changes to Cracker Barrel restaurant branding and decor, are common on both sides of the political aisle.
Defending free speech, even when it’s ‘tasteless’
Since its founding in 1999, the nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has defended the right of both conservatives and progressives to speak freely on college campuses and beyond.
In a Sept. 12 letter citing multiple court precedents, FIRE’s Charlotte Arneson called on Clemson’s Clements to resist demands to punish employees for “clearly protected speech,” even that which “some may view as poorly timed, tasteless, inappropriate, or controversial.”
“A university must never reward ‘community outrage,’ however ugly or overwhelming, by curtailing free speech principles, because the value of its faculty’s and students’ freedom to engage in the exchange of ideas is not outweighed by a segment of the public’s subjective feelings,” Arneson wrote.
In a Sept. 18 interview, FIRE’s Zach Greenberg called Clemson’s decision to fire the employees “a shame,” noting that “the First Amendment protects their right to talk about public issues in their private capacities” on social media.
“These institutions are supposed to protect faculty members’ rights and instead they’re throwing them under the bus for expressing their beliefs.” Greenberg said. “And that’s not what free speech is about.”
What’s worse, Greenberg said, is the firings took place at the direction of government officials.
“It’s truly concerning to see legislatures and politicians pressure public universities to violate their faculties’ rights,” he said. “It’s incredibly chilling to free speech.”
‘A lot of angry people on both sides’
Despite the seemingly universal GOP calls for punishment, at least one S.C. House Republican said he worries too many politicians are turning up the heat when they should be turning it down.
“There’s a lot of angry people on both sides,” Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, told Statehouse Report. “And I think it’s incumbent on the rest of us to calm the waters.”
And that’s not a partisan issue, he stressed.
“Violence can’t be tolerated on either side, and we’ve seen examples of it occurring on both sides,” he said, noting that a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker was assassinated just weeks before Kirk. “Our words matter.”
Specifically with regard to the calls for firings, Collins said he’d rather leave those decisions to university officials “who are in those positions for a reason.”
“I don’t know that that should be an elected official’s role,” he said.
But with statewide elections right around the corner in 2026, Collins thinks the rhetoric in S.C. will likely get worse.
“My naive optimism is that leaders would know their roles and act accordingly,” Collins said. “But that’s just not the political climate we’re in these days.”
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Legislators win awards from Riley Institute, Chamber
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | The Riley Institute at Furman University this week announced the winners of its annual OneSouthCarolina Awards, which recognize South Carolinians who “exemplify statesmanship and a steadfast commitment to inclusive progress. Also this week, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce recognized two lawmakers for leadership.
Through the Riley Institute, S.C. Rep. Neal Collins, R–Pickens, will receive the 2026 Legislative Leadership award for his bipartisan approach to policymaking, and his focus on legislation with “long-term impact,” particularly in education and child welfare.
Winning the institute’s Civic Leadership award is William “Bill” Finn, a longtime South Carolina business leader and CEO who serves in leadership roles with several nonprofits, including as board chair of Turn90, which supports formerly incarcerated men.
Finally, the group’s Partners in Progress award went to the Center for Heirs’ Property for their work in helping families secure legal titles to inherited land.
The awards will be presented at the 2026 Building OneSC Forum and Riley-Wilkins Awards Dinner on Jan. 13.
Meanwhile, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce also announced its 2025 House and Senate “legislator of the year” awards.
Rep. Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster, was honored for his “longstanding support for a pro-business agenda,” as well as his work to advance income tax cuts, according to a Chamber release.
“As the son of a small business owner who took a risk and started a business, I’m proud to stand up in the State House for people like her,” Newton said. “Supporting our business community is vital to the prosperity and future of our state.”
On the other side of the Capitol, Sen. Majority Leader Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) won for his efforts to push through a lawsuit reform bill that supporters say will lower liquor liability and other business insurance premiums.
“It is an honor to receive the Chamber’s Legislator of the Year award,” Massey said. “The Senate delivered major, pro-business victories this year, and I am committed to building on the work that’s been done to make South Carolina even more business-friendly in the decades to come.”
The legislators will be formally recognized at the S.C. Chamber’s 46th Annual Summit, which runs from Oct. 26 to 30.
In other recent news
S.C. elections director fired suddenly. The State Election Commission on Wednesday fired Executive Director Howard Knapp in a 3-2 vote, saying it wanted new leadership. The commission’s chief of staff, Jenny Wooten, will serve as interim director. According to media reports, it was unclear why Knapp was fired although it comes on the heels of a spat with the Federal U.S. Department of Justice over handing over voter data.
2024: Stumbo to run for S.C. attorney general. Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo of the Greenwood-Laurens area announced his bid for attorney general. He’s the third GOP candidate in the race.
- Dorchester Co. councilman Byars enters S.C.-1 congressional race
- Six on ballot for Nov. 4 House special election
- Mace tells Jewish Democrat to get her ‘nose done’
State lawmakers to take up total abortion bill in two weeks. The bill would make abortion illegal from conception and fertilization with no exceptions for rape or incest.
May requests venue change over sex charge. Former S.C. Rep. R.J. May, a Republican in jail pending federal child sexual abuse charges, has requested a venue change over pretrial publicity.
College police chiefs brief S.C. lawmakers after Kirk assassination, USC hoax. Campus police chiefs told a S.C. House Education and Public Works subcommittee on Tuesday that while they are constantly planning and adjusting their protocol, they could use extra help to ensure students, faculty, staff and visitors are kept safe.
‘Move over’ law started in S.C., but lawmakers want stronger law. The “Move Over” law, passed nearly 30 years ago in South Carolina, requires motorists to merge and slow down around stopped emergency personnel. But the state Department of Public Safety is launching a statewide initiative with the S.C. Highway Patrol to help enforce this law after several recent incidents.
Some S.C. Republicans say they have a plan to eliminate Clyburn’s congressional district. A group of self-styled Trump conservatives in the state legislature say they’re working to redistrict S.C. Democratic Rep. James Clyburn’s seat out of existence, but so far party leaders appear to be hesitant.
Colbert takes home ‘Late Show’ Emmy award. Charleston native Stephen Colbert won an Emmy award for his recently cancelled CBS late night talk show Sunday night, getting a big laugh from the crowd when he said, “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring?”
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Dept. of Wars
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he pokes fun at American foreign policy.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Read more to vanquish cultural attention deficit disorder
By Andy Brack | With all of the turmoil roiling the country, a new way to show your love for these 50 states is to get off the damned phone and mind-numbing social media channels. Instead, embrace reading.
Most of what you see on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok is material picked by someone else to try to get you to stay on a device as long as possible so you can see their ads for some crap that you don’t need.
Don’t think all of this screen time is having an effect? It doesn’t take a crack Internet researcher to learn that phone screen usage is increasing dramatically. A 2025 study showed the average amount of time Americans spend on phone screens is a whopping 5 hours and 16 minutes – every day. That’s a 14% increase over the previous year and represents almost as much time spent pondering nothingness on the phone as spent in a 40-hour per week job!
All of this being glued to a device also is shortening our attention spans. Two decades ago, according to one psychologist, the attention span of someone working on a computer document was about 2.5 minutes. In other words, they focused on the document for that long until they checked email or did something else. In the ensuing years with the rise of people on phones all of the time, that number has dropped to (wait for it) 47 seconds. Geez. Talk about cultural attention deficit order.
Furthermore, all of this bouncing around from one thing to another isn’t bringing us closer together. It’s forcing us into individualized cocoons that keep us apart – except for those people who transmogrify into some kind of digital Karen or Ken and have to comment on everything and irritate kith and kin alike.
So with so much info-trash assaulting our brains daily as we feed a national addition to tiny idiot boxes, what do we do?
Perhaps something radically conservative: Step back some. Turn off the screen and what some algorithm thinks you need. Visit a bookstore or the public library. Ask for a suggestion. And read for enjoyment. You might find it to be a vacation from a world spinning out of control.
Just this week, I devoured a soon-to-be-released, 363-page novel by Alabama storyteller Sean Dietrich. “Over Yonder” is a true delight, filled with laugh-out-loud moments and as well as some misty-eyed passages in the story of a defrocked Episcopalian priest just out of prison who finds himself interspersed in the life of a 17-year-old girl and her emotional support goldfish named Gary. They’re chased by domestic terrorists. The FBI steps in at one point. There’s speeding, gunshots, wrecks and the lure of Confederate gold. It’s a rollicking tale. Dietrich even worked in a tribute to Mark Twain by cribbing this observation: “Grasping an angry cat by the tail teaches a man something he can learn in no other way.”
Or maybe you ought to read anything by the late Kurt Vonnegut, comedian Jon Stewart’s favorite author. “Line your desk with Kurt Vonnegut and you cannot go wrong,” Stewart said in 2024. “I felt like he educated me in the genre of optimistic, cynical humanism.”
Consider “Breakfast of Champions,” which I read as a teenager and marvelled at the creative use of an asterisk (IYKYK). Or you might want to pick his breakout “Slaughterhouse Five,” a darker tale that tries to make sense of war. (Vonnegut was a World War II soldier who was taken prisoner and survived the British firebombing of Dresden.) Vonnegut blends science fiction, pithy observations about humans, creativity and Midwestern common sense – just the kinds of things we need in these days of too many blue screens.
Read more. It will do you – and the country – a world of good.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Squat brick building
Here’s a squat-looking brick building somewhere in South Carolina. (Don’t think it’s more difficult than it is). Where is it and why might it have been in the news? Send your best guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s mystery, “Painted sign,” shows a College of Charleston slogan on the side of a student apartment building on Warren Street in Charleston.
This was a tough one to identify the specific location. Kudos to super sleuths George Graf of Palmyra, Va., and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, for spending the time to figure it out. Bill Segars of Hartsville and Deborah Dean get half credit for knowing the picture was in Charleston.
- SHARE: If you have a Mystery Photo to share, please send it to us – and make sure you tell us what it is!
Keep at it
To the editor:
Insightful opinion piece. I want NOTHING to do with authoritarians — rule-of-law democracy is my cup of tea. I live in a state of anger and anxiety about the current state of affairs.
– Mary Bostick, Columbia, S.C.
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Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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