Opinions banned by Illinois State University’s football team.

They’re coming for you next: Kurt Beathard, an offensive coordinator coach for the Illinois State University football team, was fired because he replaced an official school poster that had been pinned to his office door that specifically endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement with a hand-written sign that said, “All lives matter to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

[Head coach Brock Spack] asked Beathard to remove the poster, which the offensive coordinator did. “Meanwhile, another coach who wanted to replace Beathard as offensive coordinator had taken a picture of Beathard’s poster and shared it with the football players,” the lawsuit alleges. Apparently, the picture upset some of the football players.”

“On 9/1/20, some of the football players boycotted practice,” the lawsuit said. “Spack came to Beathard’s office and informed him that it looked like Lyons [another coach he had gotten in trouble for making fun of Black Lives Matters] was going to keep his job but that Beathard was in trouble over the poster.”

The next day, he lost his job because Spack did not “like the direction of the offense.”

Beathard, who had worked for 25 years as a football coach, has filed a lawsuit [pdf] against both Spack and Lyons in the federal courts, claiming that they fired him “for one reason and one reason only: He did not toe the party line regarding the Black Lives Matter organization.” The lawsuit also notes that his firing violated the school’s own policy, which states:.

“Illinois State University … is strongly committed to the ethical and legal principal that each member of the University Community enjoys the right to free speech. The right of free expression and the open exchange of ideas stimulates debate, promotes creativity, and is essential to a rich learning environment… As members of the University Community, students… and staff have a responsibility to respect others and show tolerance for opinions that differ from their own.”

Whether Beathard can win his case in court is entirely unknown. The courts no longer automatically support the free speech rights of conservatives.

The mob and petty tyrants on the left know this, which is why they don’t worry about destroying their opponent’s lives for merely expressing an opinion. For decades the left has been immune from punishment, and so like all bullies now takes full advantage of that immunity. Until we as a society cry “Enough!” and make these jack-booted thugs pay for their actions, they will remain empowered and will continue to escalate their oppressive ways.

Soon it won’t simply be getting their opposition fired. They will work to get them imprisoned, or worse.

And if you don’t believe me, just take a look at the tweets from leftists in this article. The screen capture to the right is typical. You could also take at these essays by me here, here, here, and here. And that’s only a small sampling.

The hate and rage from these bullies is now about ready to do its worst, and that isn’t simply getting people fired. Or as David Horowitz once said, “Inside many liberals is a totalitarian screaming to get out.”