SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – USD professor Michael Hook is returning to the classroom after a federal judge granted his request for a temporary restraining order.
Hook is suing representatives from the South Dakota Board of Regents (BOR) and University of South Dakota after he was put on administrative leave for a social media post regarding Charlie Kirk.
U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier granted the request for Hook to return to the classroom until the preliminary injunction hearing set for October 8.
During the hearing, Schreier asked Hook’s lawyer Jim Leach why the lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order was brought forward now, instead of waiting until after Hook is officially fired.
Leach says Hook’s loss of his First Amendment rights causes irreparable harm and that the university intends on firing Hook anyway. He argues the speed in which Hook was put on leave– which he says was sparked by lawmakers requesting he be fired– indicates it was not able to prove a disruption to the school and that retaliation was taken against Hook because it disagreed or was offended with the contents of the post.
Schrier questioned the defendant’s attorney Justin Bell on whether Hook was put on leave solely because of the Facebook post.
Bell argued that hundreds of calls and messages were made to the BOR and USD regarding Hook’s post. During the hearing, Bell said Hook’s message did disrupt the school’s business both internally and externally. Bell said reinstating Hook would cause further disruption.
Leach is asking for Hook to be reinstated until the BOR and USD provide the court with more evidence that Hook’s post caused disruption to the university and that it was not a violation of his First Amendment rights.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a personal conference is set for Sept. 29 between Hook and the university where he may plead his case and avoid getting fired.
In the lawsuit, Hook is requesting a temporary restraining order as well as injunctions to prevent the university from keeping him on administrative leave or retaliating against him further.
Hook’s now-deleted post is printed in full below:
“Okay. I don’t give a flying f— about this Kirk person. Apparently he was a hate spreading Nazi. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the idiotic right fringe to even know who he was. I’m sorry for his family that he was a hate spreading Nazi and got killed. I’m sure they deserved better. Maybe good people could now enter their lives. But geez, where was all this concern when the politicians in Minnesota were shot? I have no thoughts or prayers for this hate spreading Nazi. A shrug, maybe.”
The lawsuit says Hook’s initial post was only up for three hours before it was deleted and he issued an apology. His Facebook account has also been deleted.
