US State Department Warns Visa Holders Against Cheering Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

‘Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention,’ Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote.

Charlie Kirk, conservative commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, speaks to supporters of President Donald Trump at a rally outside the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 6, 2020. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File

The deputy secretary of state on Thursday called on people to report foreign visa applicants and holders in the United States if they’ve expressed statements praising, making light of, or rationalizing the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The conservative commentator was killed on Wednesday at a college campus in Utah.

“In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country. I have been 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,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote in a statement on social media.

He also wrote, “Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the @StateDept can protect the American people.”

Elsewhere in the X thread, he told users he would instruct officials to monitor comments under his post.

“Please repost them here. I will direct consular officials to monitor the comments to this post,” he wrote in the thread.

Earlier this year, Landau announced that he had revoked visas for British musical group Bob Vylan after they led crowds in chanting “death” to the Israeli military.

Kirk, 31, was assassinated on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University. As of Thursday morning, no suspect has been apprehended or arrested, although FBI officials provided an update saying that the murder weapon had been recovered.

The attack was captured in videos circulating on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

President Donald Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City.

Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling his friendship with Kirk, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and nomination as vice president, and ending with his prayers after he heard of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump’s second Republican administration, Vance wrote.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

On Wednesday evening, Trump released a video calling Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and suggested that radical, progressive ideology was, in part, responsible for the conservative activist’s death.

Investigators are confident they will find the shooter, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said on Thursday. They now have images of a suspect and were analyzing a palm print and a shoe impression found near the scene, he said.

Two other people initially detained turned out to be uninvolved and were released.

Also, on Thursday, Mason said the suspect they are seeking “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with students on the college campus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.