Free speech alarm grows as White House targets rhetoric over Kirk’s killing

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5506688-trump-administration-charlie-kirk

The White House is using the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a basis to go after left-wing groups and threaten crackdowns on certain types of rhetoric, drawing skepticism from even some on the right.

Vice President Vance on Monday urged the public to report anyone they saw celebrating Kirk’s murder, comments that appeared at odds with his previous criticism of Europe for suppressing free speech.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk was a tragedy. He was on a campus doing what he had done many times before, engaging in debate with students, welcoming them to change his views,” said Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

“Unfortunately the administration’s response has been disappointing and deeply chilling,” Terr added. “They have not sought to reaffirm the values of free speech, but are instead threatening to undermine them further by cracking down on Americans for what they say about Charlie Kirk or his killing.”

The threats to punish rhetoric and ideologies out of step with the administration’s policies and messaging are part of a broader trend during Trump’s second term.