Judge tosses Bradenton Times defamation suit against Manatee REC over Charlie Kirk texts

A political feud between the Manatee County Republican Executive Committee (REC) and The Bradenton Times sparked by mass texts over commentary on Charlie Kirk has ended with a Judge tossing a defamation case out of court.

A Manatee County Judge dismissed the case, siding with the Manatee REC and Chair Mark Flanagan. The Bradenton Times publisher Joe McClash and Editor Dennis “Mitch” Maley brought the claims over text messages criticizing the publication over an opinion article critical of Republicans’ response to Kirk’s death, titled “The Weaponization of Charlie Kirk.” 

The mass text message from the Manatee REC — titled “WE ARE ALL CHARLIE KIRK” — stated “The radical leftists at The Bradenton Times are using the exact same type of hateful, inflammatory language that incited radical transgender activists to murder Charlie Kirk in cold blood,” and other statements against the publication, court records show.

McClash and Maley alleged defamation, claiming the messages led to community backlash, loss of professional opportunities and emotional distress. But the court sided with the defendants, concluding the communications were part of protected political speech.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Flanagan said the decision is a victory for the First Amendment.

“Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,” Flanagan said.

“That is exactly what the First Amendment protects, and we are pleased the court recognized that here. We are incredibly grateful to our legal team, GrayRobinson attorneys Stephanie Marchman, Leonard Collins, and Eleanor Siegel, for their sage counsel and bringing this case to a speedy resolution under the Anti-SLAPP statute.”

In the article, Maley drew attention to a second school shooting that took place on the same day that Kirk was killed. He pointed out that a 16-year-old was killed — he was the shooter, and he killed himself — and two children were seriously injured during the lesser-known shooting.

Maley went on to criticize members of the Republican Party for treating one incident “as a political assassination of unparalleled national import, while the other was treated as just another day that ends in Y.” Maley also took issue with President Donald Trump’s rhetoric blaming the “radical left” for Kirk’s shooting, honing in on Trump’s statements that “we just have to beat the hell out of radical left lunatics.” 

The lawsuit was filed after a verbal altercation between McClash and Flanagan at Publix in September a day after the article was published. The text messages sent by the Manatee REC were sent the day after that. 

The court found that the messages, sent in September 2025, constituted political speech protected under the First Amendment, triggering Florida’s Anti-SLAPP statute. The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice, barring it from being refiled.