Attorney General Uthmeier and Education Commissioner Kamoutsa Announce New Measures, Citing “Gross Immorality” and Threats to School Safety
Florida’s top legal and education officials announced a new initiative on Monday to hold public school educators accountable for what they described as “violent statements” made online in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During a press conference, Attorney General James Uthmeier and Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsa outlined a two-pronged approach: the launch of a new public portal to report threats of violence and a statewide effort to investigate and sanction teachers who have made social media posts celebrating or encouraging Kirk’s assassination.
“There’s a big difference,” Uthmeier said, “between free speech and a threat of violence, a call for violence. That is not protected by the First Amendment.” He announced the creation of the “Combating Violent Extremism Portal” on the Attorney General’s website, where the public can submit reports of “calls for violence or a threat for violence against other individuals.”
Uthmeier stated that such reports would be immediately referred to investigators and law enforcement.
Education Commissioner Kamoutsa focused his remarks specifically on the conduct of educators. He announced that the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Professional Practices Services would be conducting “thorough investigations” into each case of a teacher making such posts.
Kamoutsa described the case of a teacher in Clay County who, he said, made “callous and unconscionable comments” on social media, specifically a post that read, “This may not be the obituary we were all hoping to wake up to, but this is a close second for me.”
He said the comment caused more than 500 complaints and led to the school district increasing security. Based on an investigation, Kamoutsa stated he had found probable cause to file charges against the teacher, including “gross immorality” and “failure to protect the health, safety, and welfare of students.” He said the department would be seeking the revocation of the teacher’s license.
“This is completely unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated,” Kamoutsa said, emphasizing that while educators have First Amendment rights, those rights do not extend to promoting or glorifying violence.
The name of the Clay County teacher was not revealed on Monday; however, the new portal titled ‘Combat Violent Extremism’ has been launched and is live.
READ: “A Martyr For American Freedom”: Trump Eulogizes Charlie Kirk At Arizona Memorial
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