The United States State Department on Tuesday revoked the visas of an Argentine national and five other foreigners in a clampdown on freedom of speech, accusing them of celebrating the murder of activist Charlie Kirk.
In posts on the X social network, the department shared offending posts by citizens of Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Paraguay, who allegedly called Kirk "racist," "xenophobic" or other characterisations.
Father-of-two Kirk was shot dead on a Utah university campus last month, sparking a wave of grief among conservatives and promises of a clampdown from Trump. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with the murder. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
“The United States has no obligation to host foreign nationals who wish death on Americans,” announced the official account of the US State Department, accusing the individuals of having “celebrated the heinous assassination on Charlie Kirk.”
“An Argentine national said that Kirk ‘devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric’ and deserves to burn in hell. Visa revoked,” read a second post.
One German lost their US visa for writing "When fascists die, democrats don't complain.”
The US government did not name the Argentine who made the post, but local media identified her as Serena Luciano, a young Argentine citizen studying in Chicago.
The announcement was made as US President Donald Trump hosted Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the White House in Washington DC for bilateral talks.
Luciano’s post initially drew attention in mid-September, after she was tracked down by Kirk’s followers and supporters of the Republican Party.
The US State Department shared the full message the young woman had posted on social media: “Just came on here to say charlie kirk can rest in fuckin piss and yet again if you have any empathy at all for people like this you can ahead and remove yourself as my friend. i do not give a fuck about the death of a person who devtoed his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric. it’s hot as fuck where this man currently is and it’s deserved (sic).”
On social media, Luciano describes herself as “an Argentine girl in Chicago.” Local media indicated that she is originally from Córdoba and works as a university recruiter for the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).
Her LinkedIn profile states that she graduated in art history from the same institution employing her and that she was pursuing a Master’s degree in Urban Higher Education.
‘Martyr’
At a ceremony Tuesday attended by President Javier Milei in Washington, Trump hailed Kirk as a "martyr for truth and freedom" as he posthumously awarded the right-wing activist the highest US civilian honour.
Handing the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kirk's tearful widow, Trump compared the 31-year-old conservative to Socrates, Saint Peter, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King.
Trump, 79, used the sombre ceremony to vow to redouble his crackdown on what he calls radical left-wing groups that he launched following Kirk's shooting.
"In the wake of Charlie's assassination, our country must have absolutely no tolerance for this radical left violence, extremism and terror," Trump told an audience of the country's conservative elite and foreign dignitaries, including President Milei. "We're done with the angry mobs.”
–TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments