Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to oust service members celebrating or mocking the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk online has already seen at least eight people suspended or placed under investigation, with legal experts warning of a chilling effect on free speech.

The disciplinary actions — including suspensions of at least five Army officers and an Air Force senior master sergeant, a Marine officer relieved of his recruiting duties and placed under investigation and an Army Reserve major also being looked at, according to Task and Purpose — comes after Hegseth last week ordered staff to actively search for anyone working for the Defense Department who condoned or made fun of Kirk’s Sept. 10 death.

But a “witch hunt” for individuals who criticize someone that the Trump administration is lionizing is “extremely dangerous” as it threatens to remove the long-held apolitical nature of the military, according to Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force judge advocate and now a law professor at Southwestern Law School.

“Going beyond things that directly impact good order and discipline, directly impact the military mission, just to retribute and punish and therefore suppress and chill any personal expression based on ideological grounds is beyond the pale,” VanLandingham told The Hill.

She added, "We've never seen institutionally . . . the ability of the Pentagon to limit speech utilized to such an extent purely on ideological grounds."

Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, was

© The Hill