Five days after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a Utah university, his YouTube channel began a live broadcast.
Clips of the conservative activist's commentary were spliced into a montage of photos taken at political events.
"Disagreement is not just welcome, it is invited. We want to have those tough conversations — that's what it's all about," Mr Kirk said in one video.
But for onlookers from both sides of the aisle, the remainder of the stream took an opposite turn, going after free speech.
The video cut to US Vice-President JD Vance, who was guest hosting The Charlie Kirk Show from his office, less than a week after Kirk's death.
"We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown over the last few years," Mr Vance said.
"We're going to talk about how to dismantle and bring real unity."
A vow to go after 'left-wing extremism'
Throughout the two-hour stream, the vice-president alluded to shutting "soulless and evil" propaganda he claims is being spread by liberal political opponents.
The government's solution, the vice-president revealed, would be a broad crack down on liberal groups.
Mr Vance claimed there was a "pyramid" of forces such as political donors, activists, journalists, social media influencers and politicians that celebrated Mr Kirk's murder or emphasised "the fact that he said some things some didn't like".
"Many of these people are creating an environment where things like this are inevitably going to happen," he said, without providing evidence that such a network exists, nor any link to Mr Kirk's death.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox has said the suspect had a "leftist ideology" and acted alone.
Mr Vance was joined by White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who vowed to "use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks".
Political violence in the US
US President Donald Trump and his allies have been vocal about increasing incidents of political violence in the wake of Mr Kirk's death.
But left-wing commentators have accused them of being entirely partisan.
Without citing a source, Mr Vance justified the government's plan to target liberal groups by claiming it is a "statistical fact" that most "lunatics" in politics are aligned with the left.
But government data and independent analysis show right-wing extremist actors were responsible for about three-quarters of domestic terrorism-related deaths since 2001.
"Of the 85 violent extremist incidents that resulted in death since September 12, 2001, far right wing violent extremist groups were responsible for 62," a report by the Government Accountability Office reads.
Critics have also pointed to several recent examples of political violence against Democrats that were largely overlooked by Republicans.
On June 14, Melissa Hortman, the leader of the Minnesota House Democratic caucus was killed alongside her husband. Earlier that morning, the accused assassin had allegedly shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in their home.
Paul Pelosi, the husband of prominent Democrat Nancy Pelosi, was beat with a hammer during a home invasion in 2022 that left him with long-term injuries.
In both cases, prosecutors alleged the accused attackers had conservative views and were politically motivated.
When asked about Ms Hortman's death on Monday, the president said he was "not familiar" with the case.
At the time of her death, he refused to even call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to express his condolences, saying it would only "waste time".
Mr Trump also mocked Ms Pelosi after the attack on her husband.
Asked for examples of liberal organisations fuelling violence, the White House cited protests, such as the demonstrations against ICE raids in June, where police officers and federal agents were injured.
A report has also alleged Indivisible offered payments to people who gathered at Tesla dealerships to oppose billionaire Elon Musk's involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency.
Indivisible. a progressive grassroots movement, has said "political violence is a cancer on democracy" and claimed it had "been threatened by right-wingers all year".
The 'campaign to destroy dissent'
The vice-president's podcast appearance forms part of what opponents say is a broader effort to shut down criticism of the president and his allies.
"Pay attention. Something dark might be coming," Democratic senator Chris Murphy wrote on social media on Sunday.
"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."
Mr Trump says he has classified anti-fascist affiliation Antifa as a terrorist group, and will seek thorough investigations into anyone found to be funding it.
Progressive activist network Indivisible and billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundations have also been named as potential targets for domestic terror classifications.
The president is seeking to bring charges against people who have been "putting up millions and millions of dollars for agitation" under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Attorney-General Pam Bondi said the administration would "go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech" during an appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast, but later walked back the comments following backlash.
The First Amendment, which enshrines free speech as a fundamental right for Americans, protects even hate speech, unless it directly incites violence, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) says.
On Monday, Republicans in the US House of Representatives introduced resolutions to censure Minnesota politician Ilhan Omar and remove her from committees.
Ms Omar had criticised Mr Kirk's positions on gun control, police reform and race.
"There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate," she told Zeteo.
"These people are full of shit, and it's important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness."
The censure movement against Ms Omar failed late Wednesday.
The US Department of State also indicated it would review the legal status of immigrants who were found to be "praising, rationalizing, or making light of" Mr Kirk's death.
Calls for vigilantism
As well as signposting the government's efforts to clamp down on political dissent, Mr Vance used his appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show to encourage listeners to pursue punishments for opponents themselves.
"When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out, and hell, call their employer," Mr Vance said in his closing monologue.
Anyone seen to have celebrated, mocked or spoken negatively of Mr Kirk was cast as complicit in political violence and considered a valid target of vigilante justice.
Online, Republican politicians and other conservative influencers, such as as Matt Wallace and Mr Musk, spearheaded efforts to expose critics of Mr Kirk and attempt to have them fired from their jobs.
State governments and universities have also sacked dozens of teachers, academics, firefighters and other workers for comments they made online.
On Wednesday, late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live was spectacularly dropped from air "indefinitely" over comments about the fallout from Mr Kirk's death.
"The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it," host Jimmy Kimmel said in an opening monologue.
The show's cancellation came hours after Federal Communications Commission suggested it could take action against US network, ABC, and its parent company, Disney, for Mr Kimmel's comments.
Conor Fitzpatrick, a supervising senior attorney at FIRE, told ABC News it appeared that Jimmy Kimmel Live was cancelled because "the government wanted him off the air".
DC Comics cancelled a series after just one release over posts by its writer.
Targeting political enemies
The crackdown on dissent comes after Mr Trump made retribution against his political enemies a cornerstone of his comeback campaign.
Since returning to the White House, he has mobilised the federal government to reshape law firms, universities and other traditionally independent institutions.
He also ordered an investigation into ActBlue, an online liberal fundraising platform, on claims fraudsters were using elaborate "schemes" and "dummy accounts" to funnel illegal contributions to politicians.
On Tuesday, the president filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against four journalists at The New York Times, adding to a growing list of litigations against news outlets for negative reporting.
He previously filed lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News, both of which settled out of court.
Mr Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch for publishing a story reporting on his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the government was "gleefully using and abusing its authority ... to try and control the message that outlets are able to report".
"Freedom of speech is in peril in the United States of America right now," he said.
Not all conservatives are happy
While hosting The Charlie Kirk Show, Mr Vance denied targeting freedom of speech, insisting the government was only "going to go after the [non-governmental organisation] network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence".
His comments were echoed by White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, who said it was "disingenuous and false for Democrats to say administration actions are about political speech", arguing the goal is to "target those committing criminal acts and hold them accountable".
But the idea of the government carrying out any retribution campaign over Mr Kirk's death has concerned conservatives, too.
House of Representatives Speaker, Mike Johnson, and senator James Lankford were among the Republican politicians to push back on calls to punish dissent.
"This is a conservative principle and certainly an American principle — we do not censor and silence disfavoured viewpoints. People in America are allowed to say crazy things," Mr Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.
But he stopped short of condemning private businesses sacking employees.
"That said, if I'm an employer or I'm a government agency and I have someone in my employ who is online celebrating the heinous murder of an innocent person … I can make the decision that they don't deserve to work for me."
Meanwhile, Megyn Kelly, Mike Cernovich, Erick Erickson and Tucker Carlson were among the prominent conservative commentators to offer up their concerns.
"You hope that a year from now, the turmoil we're seeing in the aftermath of [Mr Kirk's] murder won't be leveraged to bring hate speech laws to this country," Mr Johnson said.
"And trust me, if it is, if that does happen, there is never a more justified moment for civil disobedience than that ever."
ABC/AP
