By Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When President Donald Trump went to the Pentagon on Thursday to commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks, the ceremony took place in a courtyard rather than the memorial near the side of the building where a plane crashed and killed 184 people 24 years ago.
Two U.S. officials said the switch to a less exposed area was done out of an abundance of caution after the killing of Charlie Kirk, a prominent Trump ally and conservative activist, at a college campus in Utah on Wednesday.
Tightened security and a somber mood were evident as the White House reeled from the violent death of the 31-year-old who Trump credits with helping rally young voters to elect him.
Trump, who survived two assassination attempts himself last year, said he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Vice President JD Vance flew to Utah to meet with Kirk’s family and bring his casket to Arizona on Air Force Two.
Trump and the White House gave no indication, however, that he had coalesced upon a specific policy response to the killing he has blamed without providing evidence on “the radical left.”
In a video address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump vowed his administration would “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.”
White House officials declined to give details on what that meant, but one said the intent was clear.
“The perpetrator or perpetrators of this horrific act will pay for what they did. They will be caught and they will be brought to justice,” the official said. “And any other whack jobs who engage in political violence like the tragic assassination of Charlie will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The administration, which sometimes takes its cues on policy matters from internet-savvy MAGA loyalists, faced a loud drum beat of pressure from those quarters to respond to Kirk’s killing with more than just a manhunt for the shooter.
While no suspect has been apprehended or motive established, figures including the activist Laura Loomer called for deploying new measures in a “war” against a range of ideological adversaries from the media to the Democratic Party and private citizens seen as backing leftist causes.
Several top administration officials signaled an early response might build on Trump’s frequent use of presidential power to target adversaries within the government and beyond.
Stephen Miller, a top White House aide, pointed on X to “those in positions of institutional authority – educators, healthcare workers, therapists, government employees,” whom he said reveled in Kirk’s death and believed in a “wicked ideology.” He did not specify what, if any, action should be taken against such people, nor did he identify them.
As Trump headed to New York for a Yankees baseball game that the Secret Service said would have increased law enforcement presence, he was asked how his supporters should respond to Kirk’s death.
“He was an advocate of non-violence,” Trump said. “That’s the way I like to see people.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt, Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw, Jeff Mason, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali;Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lincoln Feast.)
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