(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says colleges and universities should not use the murder of Charlie Kirk to suppress the free speech rights of students. Bird says colleges should not create what she called an “assassin’s veto” by imposing security costs or facility fees that prevent conservatives, liberals or non-political speakers from appearing on campus.

Bird spoke earlier today (Friday) during taping of the Iowa Press program the airs on Iowa P-B-S and did not directly comment on the investigation of some social media posts made by staff at the three state-supported universities. However, Bird said free speech rights in the public square are very different than free speech rights in the workplace that are subject to employment policies.