Attorney General Pam Bondi found herself in the hot seat this week after her comments about targeting “hate speech” sparked a backlash from conservatives who feared the Justice Department was gearing up to police political opinions. The controversy grew out of an outrageous incident at an Office Depot in Michigan, where three teens trying to print posters for a Charlie Kirk memorial vigil were refused service by smug employees who dismissed the order as “propaganda.”
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.
Under 18 U.S.C. §…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 16, 2025
Office Depot corporate quickly apologized, launched an internal review, and confirmed that at least one employee had been fired. But instead of focusing squarely on the broader climate of hostility that allowed something like this to happen, Bondi fumbled in a Fox News interview, suggesting the DOJ could prosecute businesses that “discriminate.” That drew swift criticism from conservatives like commentator Matt Walsh, who warned that using federal civil rights laws in such cases was “insane” and a distraction from the real threat: left-wing extremism and violence.
Bondi attempted to clean up her remarks in a follow-up statement to Axios, clarifying that she was not talking about prosecuting businesses for refusing service, but about cracking down on genuine threats of violence. “Freedom of speech is sacred in our country, and we will never impede upon that right,” she said. “My intention was to speak about threats of violence that individuals incite against others.”
She pointed to multiple federal statutes — including 18 U.S.C. §§ 875, 876, and 115 — that make it a felony to threaten to kidnap, injure, or kill someone, or to target members of Congress and their families. Bondi stressed the difference between constitutionally protected speech, however ugly, and true incitement. “You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as ‘free speech.’ These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon also confirmed that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is not pursuing charges against Office Depot. “We are not prosecuting people for nasty speech alone — but true incitement to violence, or hate-motivated attacks, are illegal and will be treated as such by this DOJ,” she said.
Bondi’s clarification draws an important line: debate and dissent are protected, but political violence and threats are not. For conservatives grieving the loss of Charlie Kirk, the demand is simple — stop the violence, not the speech.
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