BUZZ
School called in the cops and searched a student’s phone for writing a Bible verse
A North Carolina school district will shell out $95,000 after it harassed a student and had the police investigate her for painting a message in support of Charlie Kirk on a campus rock.
Gabby Stout painted the rock – which often had other political messages on it – in support of Kirk, following his assassination last year.
“Live Like Kirk” the message stated, along with the Bible passage John 11:25 (“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die'”). Stout did so after obtaining permission from the school to paint a message, according to her attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom. She also painted “Freedom 1776.”
Instead of respecting Stout’s free-speech rights, as school officials had done with pro-Black Lives Matter messages, the administrators asked the police to investigate her. Furthermore, school officials took it upon themselves to search Stout’s phone, without her parent’s consent or knowledge.
ADF reported:
Within hours, the student learned from social media that officials ordered the “Live Like Kirk—John 11:25” portion to be painted over.
The next day, school officials sent out a schoolwide e-mail accusing her of “vandalism” and said that law enforcement was conducting an investigation; the statement aired on a local news station as well. The day after that, officials called the student out of class to write an official statement describing her actions and forced her to show them her phone logs. School officials never obtained permission from parents to go through her phone, nor did they inform the students or parents about their constitutional right to remain silent and contact an attorney during a criminal investigation.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom, the school then banned religious messages from the rock but concluded the student had not done anything wrong. Still, they “quietly closed the investigation with no apology and then claimed that they never accused or investigated her of anything.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools just paid $95K for a lesson on the First Amendment.
That payment is part of a settlement with Gabby Stout— the high school student who painted a patriotic tribute to Charlie Kirk on a spirit rock last year.
Although Gabby had gotten permission—and… pic.twitter.com/bUZamRIfn0
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) June 15, 2026
The district agreed to settle with Stout in order to end the lawsuit. It will apologize to Stout, pay damages and attorney fees, and release a new policy supporting free speech.
