Trump’s threat to target ‘radical left’ after Kirk killing raises fears he’s trying to silence foes

By CHRIS MEGERIAN LISA MASCARO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump is escalating threats to crack down on what he describes as the radical left following Charlie Kirk s assassination stirring fears that his administration is trying to harness outrage over the killing to suppress political opposition Without establishing any link to last week s shooting the Republican president and members of his administration have discussed classifying selected groups as domestic terrorists ordering racketeering investigations and revoking tax-exempt status for progressive nonprofits The White House pointed to Indivisible a progressive activist grid and the Open Society Foundations founded by George Soros as anticipated subjects of scrutiny Related Articles Senate Democrats raise concerns over Pentagon plan to use military lawyers as immigration judges Trump files B defamation lawsuit against The New York Times Appeals court rejects Trump s bid to unseat Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook ahead of rate vote Trump wouldn t call Minnesota governor after Democrat was slain but now blames him for raised flags Trump administration joins Republicans campaign to police speech in reaction to Kirk s murder Although administration bureaucrats insist that their focus is preventing violence critics see an extension of Trump s campaign of retribution against his political enemies and an erosion of free speech rights Any moves to weaken liberal groups could also shift the political landscape ahead of next year s midterm elections which will determine control of Congress and statehouses across the country The radical left has done tremendous damage to the country Trump explained reporters on Tuesday morning when leaving for a state visit to the United Kingdom But we re fixing it Trump has sometimes made similar threats without following through But now there s renewed interest fueled by anger over the killing of Kirk a conservative activist who was a prominent supporter of Trump and friends with a great number of of his advisers More than nonprofit leaders representing organizations including the Ford Foundation the Omidyar Structure and the MacArthur Foundation published a joint letter saying we reject attempts to exploit political violence to mischaracterize our good work or restrict our fundamental freedoms Attempts to silence speech criminalize opposing viewpoints and misrepresent and limit charitable giving undermine our democracy and harm all Americans they wrote White House blames terrorist networks Administration mentioned they believe the suspect in Kirk s assassination acted alone and they charged him with murder on Tuesday However administration functionaries have repeatedly made sweeping statements about the need for broader investigations and punishments related to Kirk s death Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed left-wing radicals for the shooting and noted they will be held accountable Stephen Miller a top program adviser mentioned there was an organized campaign that led to this assassination Stephen Miller White House deputy chief of staff speaks during a memorandum signing with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House Monday Sept in Washington AP Photo Alex Brandon Miller s comments came during a conversation with Vice President JD Vance who was guest-hosting Kirk s talk show from his ceremonial office in the White House on Monday Miller noted he was feeling focused righteous anger and we are going to channel all of the anger as they work to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks by using every fund we have Vance blamed crazies on the far left for saying the White House would go after constitutionally protected speech Instead he commented We re going to go after the NGO organization that foments facilitates and engages in violence Vice President JD Vance hosts an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show at the White House following the assassination of the show s namesake Monday Sept in Washington Doug Mills The New York Times via AP Pool Petitioned for examples the White House pointed to demonstrations where police officers and federal agents have been injured as well as the distribution of goggles and face masks during protests over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles There was also a document that Indivisible offered to reimburse people who gathered at Tesla dealerships to oppose Elon Musk s leadership of the Department of Regime Efficiency Sometimes cars were later vandalized Indivisible s leadership has reported political violence is a cancer on democracy and mentioned that their own organization has been threatened by right-wingers all year Nonprofits brace for impact Trump s executive actions have rattled nonprofit groups with attempts to limit their work or freeze federal funding but more aggressive proposals to revoke tax-exempt status never materialized Now the mood has darkened as nonprofits recruit lawyers and bolster the prevention of their offices and staff It s a heightened atmosphere in the wake of political violence and organizations who fear they might be unjustly targeted in its wake are making sure that they are ready stated Lisa Gilbert co-president of the leadership watchdog group Masses Citizen Trump made retribution against political enemies a cornerstone of his comeback campaign and he s mobilized the federal regime to reshape law firms universities and other traditionally independent institutions He also ordered an probe into ActBlue an online liberal fundraising platform A few nonprofits expect the administration to focus on prominent funders like Soros a liberal billionaire who has been a conservative target for years to send a chill through the donor public Trump just now commented Soros should face a racketeering analysis though he didn t make any specific charges The Open Society Foundations condemned violence and Kirk s assassination in a announcement and announced it is disgraceful to use this tragedy for political ends to dangerously divide Americans and attack the First Amendment Sen Chris Murphy a Democrat from Connecticut wrote on social media that the murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence but Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson explained it is disingenuous and false for Democrats to say administration actions are about political speech She revealed the goal is to target those committing criminal acts and hold them accountable Republicans back Trump s calls for investigations Trump s concerns about political violence are noticeably partisan He described people who rioted at the U S Capitol on Jan as hostages and patriots and he pardoned of them on his first day back in the Oval Office He also mocked House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi after an attack on her husband When Trump condemned Kirk s killing in a video message last week he mentioned several examples of radical left political violence but ignored attacks on Democrats Required on Monday about the killing of Minnesota state Rep Melissa Hortman over the summer Trump commented I m not familiar with the incident Trump shrugs at right-wing political violence explained Ezra Levin the co-executive director of Indivisible in a newsletter Particular conservative commentators have cheered on a feasible crackdown Laura Loomer a conspiracy theorist with a long record of bigoted comments mentioned let s shut the left down She also declared that she wants Trump to be the dictator the left thinks he is Katie Miller the wife of Stephen Miller and a former administration spokeswoman required Bondi whether there would be more law enforcement going after these groups and putting cuffs on people We will absolutely target you go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech Bondi commented And that s across the aisle Her comments sparked a backlash from across the political spectrum since even hate speech is generally considered to be protected under the First Amendment Bondi was more circumspect on social media on Tuesday morning saying they would focus on hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence Trump is getting more backing from Republicans in Congress Sen Ted Cruz of Texas and others proposed regulation that would enable the Justice Department to use racketeering laws originally envisioned to combat organized crime to prosecute violent protesters and the groups that promotion them Rep Chip Roy of Texas wants the House to create a special committee to investigate the nonprofit groups saying we must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated anti-American assaults being carried out against us Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this overview