🚨 SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: "My charge to all of you: live worthy of Charlie Kirk's sacrifice, and put Christ at the center of your life as he advocated for giving his."
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 21, 2025
"Charlie has heard the words. Well done, good and faithful servant. Charlie will take it from here." pic.twitter.com/5Ry8mp60ht
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has either suspended or is investigating at least eight service members for celebrating the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk.
One legal expert mentioned that Hegseth's actions are “beyond the pale” and could harm free speech among military personnel.
Task & Purpose reported last week that the disciplinary measures include suspending at least five Army officers and an Air Force senior master sergeant, as well as a Marine officer who was taken off his recruiting duties and is under investigation, along with an Army Reserve major who is also being investigated.
These actions reportedly follow an order from Hegseth to find anyone in the Pentagon who celebrated Kirk's death earlier this month.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force Judge Advocate and professor at Southwestern Law School, told The Hill that it is “extremely dangerous” for the Trump administration to conduct a “witch hunt” against those who criticize Kirk, as it threatens the military's traditional nonpartisan stance.
“Going beyond issues that directly affect good order and discipline, and the military mission, just to punish and suppress personal expression based on ideology is beyond the pale,” said VanLandingham, who is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.
“We've never seen the Pentagon limit speech to such an extent based purely on ideological reasons,” she added.
Kirk, who co-founded the conservative youth group Turning Point USA, was shot while speaking at the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University in Orem on September 10. He was 31 years old.
The following day, Hegseth stated that Pentagon officials were keeping an eye on military members' social media for negative comments about the deceased conservative activist.
“We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Completely unacceptable.”
He was responding to a post by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who wrote, “It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American.”
Four days after Kirk passed away, Parnell stated that those who openly insult Kirk or made fun of his murder were breaking their oath of office, behaving inappropriately for a service member, and had betrayed “the Americans they've promised to protect & are dangerously unsuitable for military service.”
Some of the bigger conservative social media accounts, along with many smaller ones that focus on the military, have pointed out specific posts that criticized Kirk's death, bringing attention to them by tagging Hegseth and other high-ranking Pentagon officials.
Hegseth's call for consequences has been criticized by people on the left, including Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., who is a former Army Ranger.
“@PeteHegseth tracking down and punishing service members for their personal political views is harmful and un-American,” Crow posted on X. “We need to denounce political violence AND support peaceful speech that doesn't interfere with the chain of command.”
On the other side, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a retired Navy SEAL, expressed on Wednesday that he supported the removal of such service members.
“Listen, if you're celebrating the loss of life, a political assassination of a father, a husband, if you're celebrating a political assassination, I can tell you, I don't want you on my SEAL team,” Zinke told “CNN This Morning.”
“I don't want you in my Department of Defense or Department of War,” he added. “I don't want you, a sailor, a soldier, a Marine, if you're celebrating that.”
