Matthew Garrett is a tenured professor at Bakersfield College where he organized a faculty coalition dedicated to free speech. His persistent questioning of partisan policies has raised the ire of activists and the administration who now seek to send Garrett and colleagues "to the slaughterhouse."

Dr. Garrett filed a First Amendment lawsuit in 2020 but the district fired back with an anti-SLAPP suit and then termination proceedings, adding substantial legal expenses just as Kern Community College District suspends his salary.

The Kern Community College Board of Trustees have been condemned by First Amendment advocacy groups including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and PEN America, as well as the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism and the National Association of Scholars.