WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Thursday warned that Washington may take action against foreigners “praising, rationalizing, or making light” of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, adding he had directed consular officials to take appropriate action.
“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,” Landau said in a post on social media platform X.
“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.”
Landau did elaborate on what such action would mean.
Some users replied to Landau’s post with screenshots of accounts and posts, though it was unclear if the accounts they flagged were U.S. visa holders.
The State Department’s number two then replied to some of those comments saying he would direct consular officials to monitor the comments on the post, which as of Thursday afternoon had over 2,000 replies.
A State Department spokesperson, asked about Landau’s post, said: “This Administration does not believe that the United States should grant visas to persons whose presence in our country does not align with U.S. national security interests.”
But the spokesperson did not address questions on whether anybody had been identified to have their visa revoked or how consular officials would evaluate those flagged in response to Landau’s post.
Kirk, a 31-year-old author, podcast host and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, helped build the Republican Party’s support among younger voters. He was killed on Wednesday by a single gunshot as he gave a talk at a university in Utah in what President Donald Trump called a “heinous assassination.”
The Trump administration has pursued a sweeping crackdown on immigration, including increasing social media vetting and revoking thousands of student visas and aiming to tighten the duration of others.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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