Gabby Stout won big this week after she reached a $95,000 settlement with her school, Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, NC, after they accused her of vandalizing her school's 'spirit rock' with a tribute to Charlie Kirk and placed her under police investigation.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools just paid $95K for a lesson on the First Amendment.
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) June 15, 2026
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
I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE!!!
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) June 16, 2026
The Charlotte NC high school that painted over a student's tribute to Charlie Kirk, called the police on her, and then publicly branded the 16-year-old girl a VANDAL in front of her entire school...
...has just been forced to pay her $95,000!!!!!!… pic.twitter.com/klAHrUs5Wc
Two days after Kirk's assassination, Stout received permission from the school to paint a tribute to Kirk on the school's spirit rock, which is frequently painted by students. On the rock, she and two friends wrote "Freedom 1776" and "Live Like Kirk—John 11:25," surrounded by hearts and an American flag. Just hours later, the school painted over the tribute and sent out a school-wide message stating that the rock had been vandalized with an unauthorized message that violated the student conduct code and that law enforcement had been contacted to open an investigation.
Stout was reportedly taken out of class, interrogated about a statement she was forced to write, and had her phone searched without the consent of her parents. The next day, the school changed its speech policy and allegedly closed the investigation, saying Stout would not face any discipline. However, the school refused to issue a statement clearing Stout's name, which her parents say subjected their daughter to threats and bullying at school, for which officials refused to apologize. A month after the incident, the school issued a statement reversing its initial accusation of vandalism and stating that law enforcement was not contacted.
Alliance Defending Freedom filed a complaint alleging the school violated her First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by launching an investigation. The complaint called out the school's moral double standard, pointing to an example of the rock painted with BLM activist messages following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
In a statement to Fox News, Stout said she hopes the settlement brings student speech rights to light:
I hope they learn that students don't leave their faith or their free speech rights when they walk into school. I didn't do anything wrong, as they now admit. I was sharing a message I believe in, a message that inspired me, and a message that honored Charlie Kirk by pointing people to the hope for salvation through Jesus Christ. And they made me feel like a criminal for doing this. School officials can't just silence a student because they don't like what the student says or believes.
ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham said the incident was a blatant free speech violation. "Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools should be ashamed at how it treated Gabby. She did everything right, and they did everything wrong. She got permission, and she painted an uplifting message of faith. They censored her speech, publicly denounced her, and then punished her for expressing her views," he said in a statement to Fox.
In addition to the settlement, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education approved new speech policies to clearly establish student speech rights.