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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on Tuesday that a person cannot be prosecuted for speech, but he is in favor of other consequences for those who celebrate the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, putting the senator at odds with the Trump administration.
Cruz made the comments at Politico’s AI & Tech Summit on Tuesday, when he affirmed that hate speech is protected under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
“The First Amendment absolutely protects speech,” Cruz said.
“It absolutely protects hate speech,” he continued. “It protects vile speech. It protects horrible speech. What does that mean? It means you cannot be prosecuted for speech, even if it is evil and bigoted and wrong.”
PAM BONDI CLARIFIES ‘HATE SPEECH’ COMMENTS AFTER GETTING BLOWBACK
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said a person cannot be prosecuted for speech. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Instead of facing prosecution, Cruz said anyone who has celebrated Kirk’s murder, or suggested that he deserved to die for his political views, should be met with other forms of consequences, such as termination or expulsion. Several people in various jobs across the country have been fired for comments made in response to Kirk’s death.
“We have seen, as you noted, across the country, people on the left — not everybody — but far too many people celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder,” Cruz said. “We’ve seen teachers in high schools and elementary schools posting online celebrating. We’ve seen university professors posting.”
“In my view, they should absolutely face the consequences for celebrating murder,” he added.
Cruz’s comments come after Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday that the Justice Department would target people who engaged in hate speech following Kirk’s assassination.
“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. We will absolutely target…
