The Secret Service agent who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination online is expected to be fired, according to multiple reports, after his inflammatory comments drew outrage inside and outside the agency.
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was gunned down last Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Prosecutors say Tyler Robinson, 26, climbed to a rooftop overlooking the gathering and shot Kirk with a bolt-action rifle. The conservative activist was rushed away by security but died of his injuries.
In the aftermath, Secret Service agent Anthony Pough posted on social media that Kirk “deserved” his fate. “If you are Mourning this guy… delete me. He spewed hate and racism on his show,” Pough wrote. “You can’t circumvent karma, she doesnt [sic] leave.”
The remarks quickly circulated among fellow agents and shocked many in the protective detail community. “If that’s all it takes to set you off, that’s dangerous to have around,” one veteran agent told RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree, who first reported the comments.
The Secret Service confirmed that Pough has been placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation proceeds. A spokesperson declined to say whether the leave was paid or whether his clearance was suspended, but emphasized that “the agency will not tolerate any behavior that undermines our code of conduct.”
Crabtree later reported that Pough is likely to be dismissed. One insider explained that because he remains in his probationary period, he can be let go more easily than an agent with career status. Pough reportedly joined the Secret Service in 2022. Agents serve a three-year probation plus 120 days.
Crabtree also gave important context in her report:
The reason people are doubting what a Secret Service said was the discipline it was planning to take against Pough is because the agency has such an abysmal record of following through on discipline and unevenly disciplining agents and other employees over the course of decades.
Kerry O’Grady, the former head of the Denver Field Office was placed on administrative leave in 2017 for suggesting she wouldn’t take a bullet for Trump. She was allowed to remain on paid admin leave (essentially a taxpayer-paid vacation) for two years until she reached her retirement date so she could receive her full pensions. (Remember, no one got fired over the two assassination attempts against President Trump — indeed, several junior agents got 11-40 days of admin leave while some superiors involved that day received promotions.)
The agency has strict rules forbidding agents from making partisan or inflammatory statements, even in a personal capacity.
Leadership has long argued that the appearance of political bias is incompatible with the Secret Service’s mission to protect leaders of all parties.
Kirk, a vocal Trump ally, had built one of the largest youth conservative organizations in the country. His group, Turning Point USA, boasts hundreds of campus chapters and frequently hosted events drawing thousands of students.
The Utah appearance, part of his “American Comeback Tour,” was attended by several thousand when Robinson allegedly opened fire.
President Donald Trump, who often appeared alongside Kirk at rallies, called the murder “a national tragedy” and announced Kirk will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.
Trump said Kirk “gave everything to the cause of free speech and the American people.”
Robinson, who was turned in by his own father, faces first-degree murder charges in Utah. Investigators seized multiple electronic devices from his residence and are reviewing online communications, including a Discord group with more than 20 members that may soon be questioned.
As for Pough, sources say his career with the Secret Service is effectively over. One former agent noted: “We swear an oath to the Constitution, not to a political cause. When someone in our ranks celebrates violence against a political figure, that oath is broken.”
