US Vice President JD Vance has issued a frightening new threat to anyone who is deemed to be 'celebrating' Charlie Kirk's murder, calling on his supporters to take action.
Charlie Kirk's death has dominated the news across the past week after the 31-year-old Turning Point USA co-founder was shot and killed while talking at Utah Valley University as part of his 'American Comeback' tour across college campuses.
One key factor regarding his death on social media in particular is that horrific and graphic footage of the moment he was shot was immediately spread around, causing many to feel sick upon viewing it.
The FBI and Utah authorities have now caught who they suspect fired the shot that killed Kirk, with 22-year-old Tyler Robinson accused of the crime and linked with DNA samples and a note allegedly making his intentions clear.
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While many across the internet and the wider world have offered their thoughts and condolences following Kirk's passing, with names like Elon Musk and Donald Trump weighing in, many others have spoken out against the controversial political figure.
Charlie Kirk was one of the most powerful far-right commentators outside of government and was an ally to President Donald Trump, and many have objected to the extreme views he held on numerous social and political issues.
Vice President JD Vance has made it clear, however, that he wants to crack down on any negative response to Kirk's death, issuing a worrying warning to anyone who he deems to be 'celebrating' the shooting.
As reported by the BBC, Vance made the decision to host the Charlie Kirk Show following its former host's death, and urged people to take action against anyone they see cheering on Kirk's death.
"Call them out, and hell, call their employer," declared the vice president, despite being part of a political party that has seemingly championed free speech and bemoaned cancel culture.
"We don't believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility," he continued, before adding that left-wing Americans are "much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence" and that "there is no civility in the celebration of political assassination."
Attorney General Pam Bondi has also echoed these messages on The Kate Miller Podcast, insisting that the Department of Justice will 'target' anyone speaking out against Kirk.
"There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society," Bondi proclaimed, adding that "we will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."
Kirk himself appeared to directly oppose this viewpoint when he was alive though, as in a post on X from May last year he wrote that "hate speech does not legally exist in America," asserting it to be "protected by the First Amendment" in a bid to "keep America free."