The Pentagon is tracking the social media accounts of service members and War Department employees for messages celebrating or mocking the death of GOP activist Charlie Kirk.
War Chief Pete Hegseth said in a post on social media Thursday that his department would hold accountable those under its pay who have posted offensive messages about Kirk’s assassination earlier this week.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday: “It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American. The Department of War has zero tolerance for it.”
Hegseth responded to the post: “We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable.”
We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable. https://t.co/9weALT5Pb7
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) September 11, 2025
After Kirk was murdered by an assassin on Wednesday, some parts of social media were flooded with messages mocking the Turning Point USA founder and celebrating the 31-year-old’s death.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is one of the most notable figures to bash Kirk after his murder. The congresswoman from Minnesota claimed during an interview with Mehdi Hasan this week that Kirk “was willing to debate and downplay the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police … downplay slavery and what black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth should never exist.”
Omar said she has “empathy” for Kirk’s widow and children, but not for the conservative activist.
Others have faced consequences for making similar statements, such as former Middle Tennessee State University Associate Dean of Students Laura Sosh-Lightsy, who wrote on social media: “Looks like ol’ Charlie spoke his fate into existence. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.”
Sosh-Lightsy was fired on Wednesday.
Hegseth’s promise to hold those under the Department of War to a standard of civility over Kirk’s death comes after the DeSantis administration in Florida threatened similar action against educators who openly celebrate Kirk’s death on social media.
Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a memo to educators across the state warning that he “will be conducting an investigation of every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior.”
