Pam Bondi suggests DOJ will target Americans for 'hate speech'

Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke to Katie Miller on her new podcast about free speech in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Kirk was shot on the campus of Utah Valley University as he was holding an open debate session with students. He was targeted from a rooftop and shot in the neck.

This attack follows years of deplatforming of conservatives at universities, rhetoric that equates conservatives to Nazis and fascists, and rampant antisemitism that erupted after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Bondi has been vocal against that, but in speaking to Miller, she indicated that the federal government should target so-called "hate speech."

"These universities," said Miller, "are complicit in allowing conservatives to be harassed on campus. And what happens when you allow a university to harass conservatives and don't expel or don't take an action is what happened last week."

"It is," said Bondi, "and you know, on a broader level, that the antisemitism, what's been happening at college campuses around this country is disgusting. It's despicable. And we've been fighting that. We've been fighting these universities, left and right, and we're not going to stop.

"There's free speech, and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie in our society," Bondi said.

"Do you see more law enforcement going after these groups who are using hate speech and putting cuffs on people, so we show them that some action is better than no action?" Miller asked.

"We will absolutely target you," Bondi said, "go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything, and that's across the aisle. I mean, look what happened— think about Josh Shapiro. What happened to Governor Shapiro? I talked to Josh multiple times, Democrat governor Jewish. They firebombed his house while his wife and children were sleeping upstairs.

"It's a miracle nothing worse happened, it's a miracle nothing happened to Josh and he and his family are safe. They're traumatized, but that's what's happened in this world, and we are going to fight every step of the way to show that you will face the most severe consequences if you come after someone and you target someone for their political views or for any for any reason at all."

Miller then asked if Bondi believes that "Charlie was assassinated because our country can't handle free speech, or because one type of speech is seen as obscene by another political party?"

"Well, in this case," Bondi replied, "it was clearly obscene by a political party of an opposing view, sure, but doesn't matter. You can't have that hate speech in the world in which we live.

"And you knew Charlie better than anyone, he would want everyone to unite right now and I think what Erika said is they had no idea what they unleashed by doing this around this country and around this world."

Perhaps Bondi confused the notion of "hate speech," the leftist concept that there are things that should be forbidden from being spoken or written because some find them offensive, and the concept of straight up threats. Shapiro was targeted with actual, not rhetorical violence, as was Kirk who was murdered.

In response to Bondi's comments, many on social media spoke out, saying that criminalizing speech has no place in America.

Kirk's producer and friend Andrew Kolvet responded as well, saying, "I’m grateful for AG Bondi’s heart to bring justice and to ensure Charlie’s death results in something lasting, but Charlie didn’t believe in hate speech. The freedom of speech exists exactly to protect unpopular speech."

Matt Walsh called for Bondi's removal, also sharing a clip in which Bondi was saying that "businesses cannot discriminate" or refuse to serve patrons who ask for something the business disagrees with. Bondi was speaking of the issue in which an Office Depot worker refused to print a poster for a Charlie Kirk vigil.

While the ownership at Office Depot walked that back, Walsh brought up the fact that conservatives, for years, have been steadfast in the view that a business owner can act on their faith when conducting business. A prominent case in one in which a baker was sued for refusing to bake a cake celebrating a gay wedding.

Bondi shared a post, saying, "Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over."