A North Carolina high school student said she was accused of vandalism by her school and told she was being investigated by law enforcement after she painted her school’s “spirit rock” with a religious and patriotic tribute to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
According to a new complaint filed Monday and shared first with Fox News Digital, Gabby Stout, a junior at Ardrey Kell High School, called her school’s front office on September 12 to ask if she could paint the school spirit rock with a patriotic message honoring Kirk, who was killed two days prior.
Stout was told she could do so as long as the message didn’t contain vulgarity or political speech.
The complaint states that she and two friends proceeded to paint a heart and an American flag with the message “Freedom 1776,” and a tribute to Charlie Kirk: “Live Like Kirk—John 11:25” on September 13.
The students also painted their first names on the rock.
Within hours, school officials painted over the rock, according to the complaint.
On September 14, the principal sent out a school-wide message saying that the spirit rock had been painted with a message that was not authorized.
The message called it an act of vandalism and a violation of the student code of conduct, saying that law enforcement had been contacted, and an investigation was underway.
“I was completely shocked,” Stout told Fox News Digital. “I was very intimidated and scared as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble for simply sharing and expressing my views and beliefs.”
Stout sent a message the same day to school officials acknowledging she had painted the rock but had been given permission by the front office.
The next school day, she was repeatedly pulled out of class and sent to the principal’s office, where she was questioned and instructed to write a statement about what she had done, and then forced to revise it after she forgot to include the Bible verse in her emotional state.
She was also told to give up her cell phone to be searched, all without being advised of her constitutional rights or with legal counsel present.
“I was so scared I could barely hold my pen and write it [the statement],” she told Fox News Digital.
The following day, the district announced a revised policy for its Spirit Rock Speech Code that bans all political or religious messages and requires messages to reflect “positive school spirit,” “inclusive values,” and be in “good taste.”
The same day, Stout’s mother was told by the principal that the investigation into her daughter had been closed, and no disciplinary action would be taken.
On October 11, the school district sent out an internal message to the Ardrey Kell High School community to “clarify” the principal’s September 14 statement.
The message stated that the spirit rock incident was “not an act of vandalism,” “was not a violation of the student code of conduct,” and “law enforcement was not contacted to conduct an investigation.”
The complaint alleges that the school’s statement did not acknowledge it had compelled Stout to prepare a written statement without advising her of her rights, and said its claim that it had not contacted law enforcement contradicted its prior statement to local news outlet WFAE.
Stout’s parents say the school board has refused to issue a public correction to clear Gabby’s name, despite their repeated requests.
Since the incident, she has faced health problems from stress, alienation, and ostracization from friends and fellow students, the complaint says.
On social media, the complaint says, Stout was targeted for roughly six weeks with messages from students and others online celebrating the news that she would be investigated and disciplined. Messages celebrated the idea of Stout and her friends going to prison, labeled them as “racist thugs,” and left threats like “Die like Kirk.”
The complaint, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the student’s parents, alleges that the school’s actions and policies violated her First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
It calls for the school to issue a public statement acknowledging these violations, for the school to remove all negative information from Stout’s school records, and issue a formal letter of apology.
It also demands that the school stop enforcing its vandalism and revised speech code policies regarding the spirit rock, alleging the policies enable viewpoint discrimination.
The school had allowed personal and political messages on the rock before this incident. In 2020, the school allowed students to paint a pro-Black Lives Matter message on the rock.
Students painted a “black power” fist symbol along with names of individuals they believed were victims of police brutality, the complaint states.
After other students painted over the BLM message, the school board held an emergency meeting and allowed students to repaint the BLM message again, this time with more political messages, including “No Justice. No Peace,” “I can’t breathe,” and “End police brutality.”
In November, school officials also facilitated a student walkout from class to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) raids, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Travis Barham told Fox News Digital.
“So they’ll facilitate that kind of left-wing student expression and not just facilitate it, but praise the students who participated,” he said. “But let Gabby express a conservative or Christian view on the spirit rock, and criminal charges fly.”
Stout told Fox News Digital she felt targeted for her beliefs.
“I don’t think it was fair what happened to me because of my beliefs or my views, which are religious and conservative,” she said. “This has never happened to another group that the school district or school has agreed with. I thought that I was going to get in trouble for sharing my views and my beliefs.”
The complaint is brought by the student’s parents against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. It also asks the court to award nominal and compensatory damages for the constitutional violations, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any additional relief the court deems proper.
The Board did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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