Experts say Pentagon faces roadblocks to severely punishing service members for disparaging Charlie Kirk

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Sep 15, 2025, 6:38 PM ET


As multiple service members are facing investigation or suspension for posts on social media critical of Charlie Kirk, experts told CNN there are legal roadblocks to the military actually taking significant action against them. A slew of accounts on X began posting screenshots of social media posts made by troops across the military services who were critical of Kirk and accused of mocking or celebrating his death. The accounts relentlessly tagged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior Pentagon officials to get their attention, calling for the service members to be fired.

On Thursday, Hegseth and the secretaries of the Army, Air Force and Navy posted similar comments promising action would be taken against inappropriate posts. “The Department of War maintains a zero-tolerance policy for military personnel or DOW civilians who celebrate or mock the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” the Pentagon‘s Rapid Response account on X said, referencing the Defense Department’s secondary title as Department of War.

It’s unclear how many service members have been suspended or are now being investigated; but at least one Marine has been relieved of their duties while an investigation is carried out, according to a Marine Corps spokesman, and an Army officer has been suspended, according to an official familiar with the situation. But the legal authority for the military to take action against individuals for posts about public figures is murky.

Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel who previously served as a military judge and the Air Force’s chief prosecutor, told CNN that service members could potentially be removed from their jobs, but that there is no legal standing for pressing charges against them under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. “People who join the military have less First Amendment rights than those who don’t, but they still have robust First Amendment rights,” Christen said. And while there are exceptions for making disparaging remarks about the chain of command or political statements in uniform, Christensen added, there’s not a carve-out “that says Pete Hegseth doesn’t like what you’re saying so I’m going to prosecute you.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/15/politics/experts-pentagon-punishment-kirk-posts