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There's been a lot of talk about free speech recently, but in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder at Utah Valley University on September 10, there have been questions raised about where the boundaries stretch.
In the aftermath of people losing their jobs for mocking the moment where the controversial commentator was shot dead while on his American Comeback Tour, we also saw Jimmy Kimmel go on a brief hiatus for poking fun at the situation during Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
There was a massive backlash to Kimmel going off the air, with major stars including Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Robert De Niro signing a letter to reinstate him.
A judge has ruled in favor of a professor who referred to Kirk as a 'nazi', while even Elon Musk has waded in with calls to boycott Netflix over one former showrunner's comments.
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Posting on X, President Donald Trump's State Department confirmed six visas have been revoked: "The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans. The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
The six were branded as "examples of aliens who are no longer welcome in the US."
A thread includes comments made by six people from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, and South Africa. While the State Department attempted to obscure their identities, there are doxxing fears after two of them have already been tracked down.
One is accused of saying: "Charlie Kirk won’t be remembered as a hero. He was used to astroturf a movement of white nationalist trailer trash!"
Elsewhere, the thread reiterated that President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio "will defend our borders, our culture, and our citizens by enforcing our immigration laws."
It concluded: "Aliens who take advantage of America’s hospitality while celebrating the assassination of our citizens will be removed."
Still, there have been complaints about the post, especially as Musk is the owner of X and has previously called himself "a free speech absolutist."
Others are worried this will spark a continued witch hunt after Christopher Landau, a deputy secretary of state, asked social media users to flag others who've been critical of Kirk. Landau said he was "disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action."
This is the State Department's latest move on revoking visas, coming in a year that stripped Bob Vylan of their visas due to comments in support of Palestine, stopped Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas from attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and expelled South Africa's ambassador to Washington after Rubio called him a "race-baiting politician."
Responding to the Kirk visa situation, one critic said: "Instead of going after terrorists and pedophiles, you are going after visa holders for offensive speech?"
Another added: "Conservatives have no right to talk about freedom of speech ever again."
A third concluded: "Even at the peak of Wokeness, the State Department wasn't revoking visas of ppl who failed to use preferred pronouns. The cultural backlash to whatever this is will be generational."
