DALLAS — In the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Texas’ college campuses and public schools are once again emerging as the front lines of a battle over free speech. Kirk’s killing, and the backlash against those that have criticized him, has elevated angst over the price of free speech. Free speech advocates say officials’ targeting of students and teachers — and the retaliation that has followed — shows how tenuous the current state of free speech is in Texas. “Some colleges are banning free speech on college campuses,” Abbott said at the time. “At first I saw it, and I was like, that is their free speech too,” she said.