Former FWC employee sues agency after being fired over post about Charlie Kirk assassination

A former FWC employee fired over a social media post involving the Charlie Kirk assassination earlier this month is now suing the agency, according to court records filed on Tuesday.

The lawsuit states that the former employee — identified as wildlife biologist Brittney Brown — had shared a post on her private Instagram account from another user called “@awhalefact,” a parody account that pretends to speak on behalf of a whale.

“The @awhalefact posts include a variety of messages, some of which are silly,” the lawsuit reads. “And some of which comment on matters of public concern — often from a wry or idiosyncratic viewpoint."

But shortly after Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, Brown shared a post by the account while she was out of state on vacation, the lawsuit says. That post reads as follows:

“the whales are deeply saddened to learn of the shooting of charlie 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 references a quote by Charlie Kirk where he said that “it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” instead expressing support for school hardening to prevent future school shootings.

“Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty,” Kirk stated during the same speech. “Driving comes with a price. Fifty thousand people die on the road every year. That’s a price. You get rid of driving, you’d have 50,000 less auto fatalities. But we have decided that the benefit of driving... is worth the cost of 50,000 people dying on the road.”

Regardless, the lawsuit asserts that the post wasn’t indicative of “fighting words,” obscenity, defamation or threats.

“(Brown’s) post was not associated with any criminal conspiracy and was not integral to criminal conduct,” the lawsuit continues. “No crime was suggested, contemplated or associated with this political post.”

The lawsuit also says that Brown’s post was later brought to light on Sept. 14 by another account called “@libsoftiktok.”

The next day, the FWC announced on X that the agency had been made aware of a “deeply troubling incident” involving an employee, who was quickly terminated.

Now, Brown is claiming that her First Amendment rights were violated by FWC leadership.

As such, the lawsuit seeks to compensate Brown with back pay and damages related to her termination.

Videos arose on social media on Sept. 10, showing Kirk speaking with a handheld microphone at Utah Valley University before a gunshot rang out, and Kirk could be seen reaching up as blood gushed from the left side of his neck.

He was hospitalized shortly afterward, though President Donald Trump — a political figure whom Kirk publicly championed and advocated for — later took to the social media platform Truth Social to announce Kirk’s death.

[BELOW: Hundreds mourn Charlie Kirk at Central Florida vigils]

A couple of days later, authorities announced the arrest of suspected shooter 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was taken into custody after surrendering, and investigators said they believe he acted alone.

Prosecutors have since brought a murder charge against Robinson, whose parents reportedly told investigators that he’d become much more left-wing politically over the last year.

Authorities have not yet confirmed a clear motive in the shooting, but Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray that Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Meanwhile, the full lawsuit can be found below: