SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A former University of South Dakota professor is suing two high-ranking USD officials and the president of the SD Board of Regents after he was put on administrative leave following a controversial social media post.

Phillip Michael Hook is a tenured Professor of Art at USD, where he’s taught since 2006.

Hook is suing and filing a temporary restraining order against Tim Rave, President of the South Dakota Board of Regents; Sheila K. Gestring, President of the University of South Dakota; and Bruce Kelley, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Dakota.

On September 10, 2025, Hook posted a message to his private Facebook account following the assassination of Charlie Kirk:

“Okay, I don’t give a flying f*** about this Kirk person.  Apparantly he was a hate spreading Nazi.  I wasn’t paying close 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?  And the school shootings? and Capital Police?  I have no thoughts or prayers for this hate spreading Nazi.  A shrug, maybe.”

The post was deleted around three hours later, and Hook issued an apology.

However, Gov. Larry Rhoden and Speaker Jon Hansen posted screenshots of the post online, calling on the university to fire Hook. Rhoden posted that he was “shaking mad” about Hook’s comments.

According to a motion filed by Hook and his attorney, Hook had his First Amendment right of freedom of speech violated.

Hook’s motion emphasizes that the First Amendment protects him from retaliation.

One of the many cases it cites in Hook’s defense is Rankin v. McPherson, where, in 1981, a clerical employee in Texas kept her job after expressing that if a second assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan were to occur, she hoped it would be successful.

The Supreme Court held that her First Amendment right to speak outweighed the company’s interest in firing her.

“Professor Hook has a right to disagree with the defendants. The debate about Mr. Kirk’s beliefs is for the marketplace of ideas. The First Amendment guarantees the marketplace stays open, and the government may not punish people for their ideas.” The motion’s conclusion reads.

A petition has been launched to reinstate the professor with over 8,000 signatures.

The South Dakota Board of Regents has scheduled a “personal conference” with Hook, set for September 29 at 4:00 p.m.