Trump officials vow crackdown on left-leaning groups after Charlie Kirk killing

WASHINGTON ‒ Angered in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Trump administration officials say they're planning to use "every resource" available across the federal government to target left-leaning organizations they contend are promoting political violence.

Vice President JD Vance and Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, on Sept. 15 discussed plans to "go after" liberal non-government organizations, or NGOs, they said support "doxxing" campaigns against conservatives, help orchestrate riots, publicize the addresses of political opponents and promote messages intended to create violence.

"We are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks," Miller said as he joined Vance on a livestream as the vice president hosted "The Charlie Kirk Show" to pay tribute to the late conservative activist.

Miller called political violence on the left a "vast domestic terrorist movement," vowing the Trump administration would use "every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government" to "identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy" the networks.

"It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name," Miller said.  

Neither Vance nor Miller identified groups that could be prosecuted or face other actions from the administration.

Law enforcement authorities investigating Kirk’s killing have said the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, held a "leftist ideology" and had become increasingly political in recent years. Officials, however, have not said that Robinson was linked with a specific left-leaning organization.

"Crazies on the far left are saying, 'Oh, Stephen Miller and JD Vance, they’re going to go after constitutionally protected free speech,'" Vance said. "No, no, no. We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence."

"Violence is not OK in our system, and we want to make it less likely that it happens," Vance said.

Democrats have accused Trump and his allies of ignoring violence on the political right by condemning only violence on the left following Kirk's death. Instead of uniting the country, they say Trump has politicized efforts to fight political violence. And critics have warned the administration's threats to broadly target liberal organizations could turn into efforts to quiet opposition.

"The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said in a post on X.

Miller said the final message the 31-year-old Kirk sent Miller before his death was a call for an organized strategy to go after "the left-wing organizations that promote violence in this country."

"I will write those on to my heart and I will carry them out," Miller said.

President Donald Trump last week quickly blamed Kirk’s death on heated rhetoric from the "radical Left," calling it "directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today."

In addition to Kirk’s fatal shooting, Trump and his allies have pointed to the president’s own assassination scares last year, the New York City slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 and the 2017 shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., during practice for the Congressional Baseball Game as examples of violence from the left.

"We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years, and I believe, is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin's bullet," Vance said.

Trump, Vance and other members of their administration have made little mention of other examples of political violence from the political right, including the June assassination of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, the home attack of Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, the April home arson targeting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.