Bregy v. Clemson

Clemson University fired a faculty member in September 2025 for sharing another person's Facebook post via his personal account that was critical of the late conservative pundit Charlie Kirk. The full text of the post is available below.

The public university fired a highly qualified assistant professor under pressure from politicians who threatened to defund the university if it did not bend to their will. Faculty at Clemson say that the firing “sent shockwaves through the faculty, triggered an emergency meeting of the faculty senate, and has fractured the faculty’s trust and confidence in the Provost, University President, and Board of Trustees.”

The plaintiff in this case, Dr. Joshua Bregy, worked as an assistant professor in Clemson’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. He researched the reconstruction of hurricane records and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. Because Dr. Bregy is the only faculty member who is qualified to teach those courses, the university scrambled to meet the needs of its students after firing him.

Dr. Bregy’s complaint is asking a federal court to declare his firing unconstitutional under the First Amendment, order the university to reinstate him, and award back pay as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

Over the course of just three days, Clemson went from publicly promising to “stand firmly on the principles of the U.S. Constitution, including the protection of free speech” to summarily firing a faculty member for speaking out about Kirk. The change of heart followed coercive tactics by state politicians who joined a national campaign of retaliation against Kirk’s critics.

The First Amendment protects the right of public employees to speak in their personal capacity on important public topics. The fact that a topic is controversial or offends the sensibilities of politicians cannot overcome that protection.

This is the full text of the repost that Dr. Bregy shared on his personal Facebook account:

Let me preface this post by saying that violence is never okay and as much as I dislike someone and their cruel ideas, I would never want their life to be taken in an act of violence. Democracy should be built on ideas, not force. But I AM going to say this: If anyone thinks that a reasonable price for the second amendment is countless innocent lives, and then that person has the cold-heartedness and audacity to say that empathy is likened to a social disease, they will get no protracted sympathy from me. Unfriend me if you don’t like hearing this simple truth. 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.”

Moreover, the disgusting double standard for those on the “other side of the political line” is insane. Where was the outrage from the conservatives when Melissa Hortman, her husband, and even their dog was murdered in an act of political violence? Where were the thoughts and prayers from those who are outraged now? And why is there already a call from certain conservatives for retribution and violence? Doesn’t that say too much about what cruelty awaits in their vengeance?

Maybe you think I’m cruel too, but I’ll say this also – I truly grieve for Kirk’s family and friends. No one deserves to go through tragic loss like that. No one should be gunned down – not a school child, not an influencer, not a politician – no one. But am I going to allow people to make a martyr out of a flawed human being whose rhetoric caused notable damage? Not a chance.

We filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on October 6, 2025. Because Dr. Bregy’s dismissal caused irreparable harm and violated his constitutional right to speak out, as a citizen, on matters of public importance, we are asking a court to order that he be reinstated while the case proceeds.