Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead last week — evoking a furious outcry from the Donald Trump government. The President has escalated threats to crack down on the so-called “radical left” while members of his Cabinet initiated visa revocations and other curbs. Right-wing groups have also come together to collate a growing list of names and social media accounts that had ‘celebrated’ the death of Kirk.
“America will not host foreigners who celebrate the death of our fellow citizens. Visa revocations are under way. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported. You are not welcome in this country,” he wrote on X.
He also insisted during a briefing in Tel Aviv that many people had already been denied visas for their reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau had also taken to X urging people to bring “such comments by foreigners” to the attention of US authorities.
“We’ve revoked visas of people. I don’t know if we’ve revoked visas of people that are inside the country. We’ve most certainly been denying visas. We’ve got to go at process in all these. … I’m sure there’ll be some that are revoked,” reports quoted Rubio as saying on Tuesday.
Searchable database of 30,000 critics
An online group known as the Charlie Kirk Data Foundation has also begun crowdsourcing a database of social media users who criticised Kirk or celebrated his death in any way. The site was initially launched with the name ‘Expose Charlie’s Murderers’ and claimed it was collating data on thousands of critics. The domain was registered anonymously, and its creators insisted that this was not a doxing site. But the campaign has included a wide range of social media posts and even personal messages — many from accounts with scant followers or people who were not public figures.
“This website will soon be converted into a searchable database of all 30,000 submissions, filterable by general location and job industry. This is a permanent and continuously-updating archive of Radical activists calling for violence,” the now-removed site had claimed.
“I will be spending my night making everyone I find online who celebrates his death Famous, so prepare to have your whole future professional aspirations ruined if you are sick enough to celebrate his death,” far right influencer Laura Loomer posted on X.
Who killed Charlie Kirk?
The man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk faces seven counts in state court in connection with the fatal shooting at a Utah Valley University campus event last week. Prosecutors submitted the charges against 22-year-old Tyler Robinson to the court Tuesday, and a judge read them aloud and said he would appoint a defence attorney.