Pete Hegseth is putting military members on notice after a Marine was fired for making shock comments about the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Captain Jacoby Williamson, who has worked in multiple positions with the Marines since 2013, sent out an Instagram snap showing an interview segment Kirk was doing called ‘DEI in the cockpit.’
‘Another racist man popped,’ Williamson captioned the post, adding the emoji of someone raising two beers for a toast.
The post was brought to the attention of the LibsOfTikTok account, who asked: ‘Hi @PeteHegseth, can you please fire this lunatic?’
Later, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the firing in a statement.
‘It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American,’ Hegseth wrote on X. ‘The Department of War has zero tolerance for it.’
Hegseth quote-tweeted Parnell’s statement and said that he’d be keeping an eye on any further incendiary comments.
‘We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable,’ he wrote.
Pete Hegseth is putting military members on notice after a Marine was fired for making shock comments about the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk
Captain Jacoby Williamson, who has worked in multiple positions with the Marines since 2013, sent out an Instagram snap showing an interview segment Kirk was doing called ‘DEI in the cockpit’
‘We are aware of a social media post that does not align with our core values,’ Lt. Col. Joshua Benson, lead spokesman for the Marines, told USA Today.
‘The Marine in question has been relieved of his recruiting duties, and the matter is currently under investigation.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Williamson and the Pentagon for further comment.
Hegseth celebrated Kirk in a post shortly following the shooting: ‘Prayers for Charlie Kirk. An incredible Christian, American, and human being. May the healing hand of Jesus Christ be upon him.’
After Kirk was confirmed dead, Hegseth added: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’
Several people from all different walks of life have been sacked over their comments following Kirk’s killing.
A Secret Service agent has been placed on leave and is facing growing calls to be fired over his shocking comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Anthony Pough, a 36-year-old from Royersford, Pennsylvania, called the right-wing influencer’s death ‘karma’ in a now-deleted Facebook post.
The post was brought to the attention of the LibsOfTikTok account, who asked: ‘Hi @PeteHegseth, can you please fire this lunatic?’
‘If you are Mourning [sic] this guy .. delete me. He spewed hate and racism on his show,’ the agent wrote in the post, first reported by RealClearPolitics.
‘Especially when we should be mourning the innocent children killed in Colorado,’ Pough said, referring to a shooting at Evergreen High School near Denver on the same day as Kirk’s death.
Two students were injured when Desmond Holly, 16, opened fire ‘again and again’, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Pough continued: ‘At the end of the day, you answer to GOD and speak things into existence. You can only circumvent karma, she doesnt [sic] leave.’
Pough’s post has since been taken down.
His comments sparked uproar and the Secret Service has now placed him on leave.
‘The US Secret Service will not tolerate behavior that violates our code of conduct,’ an agency spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
Kirk, 31, was shot dead while speaking in front of around 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday.
Kirk, 31, was shot dead while speaking in front of around 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday
Suspect Tyler Robinson was taken into custody around 11pm local time in southern Utah on Thursday night
The conservative influencer had just taken a question about mass shootings and gun violence when a single shot was fired from the roof of the Losee Center – around located 200 yards away.
Kirk was struck in the neck – sending him toppling over in his chair.
He was rushed to hospital where he died from his injuries.
Suspect Tyler Robinson was taken into custody around 11pm local time in southern Utah on Thursday night.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said at a news conference on Friday that a family member of Robinson’s ‘reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident’.
The governor said investigators learned from Robinson’s family that he had become more political in recent times, and had recently expressed his dislike for Kirk, describing him to his family as ‘full of hate.’
Cox said that casings from the weapon used to kill Kirk were found to have several anti-fascist messages engraved on them, including one referencing the Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao.
One engraving read: ‘Hey Fascists, Catch!’, and another read ‘If You Read This You Are Gay LMAO’, Cox said.
Robinson’s arrest comes after a manhunt for the suspect stretched to over a day and a half, with officials previously offering a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture.
If convicted, Robinson will face the death penalty.
