Horry-Georgetown Technical College: Student Suspended for ‘Blasted’ Comment, Video of Her Shooting Gun

On September 12, 2024, administrators at South Carolina’s Horry-Georgetown Technical College met with student Leigha Lemoine concerning student complaints about a comment Lemoine made in a private Snapchat group about another non-student needing to be “blasted” for being rude to Lemoine. Administrators first decided not to punish Lemoine for her comment, but shortly afterward an anonymous individual reported to the college an unrelated video of Lemoine firing a gun off-campus. On September 20, HGTC suspended Lemoine through the fall 2025 semester for the “blasted” comment and for not disclosing the existence of the gun video. 

FIRE wrote HGTC on October 7 urging it to reverse its discipline of Lemoine because the comment and video, which HGTC wrongly took in conjunction, did not constitute an unprotected true threat. After FIRE Legal Network attorney David Ashley took the case and filed for an emergency injunction, a district court ordered HGTC to allow Lemoine to return to classes as the case continued through the court system.