Watch | 'America does not need more visas for people from India': Here's What Charlie Kirk Said on Indians in US

Right-wing leader Charlie Kirk, a close friend of US President Donald Trump, was shot and murdered on Wednesday at an event on campus at Utah University. The nation has been shocked by his death, while his recent remarks criticizing Indian migrants have surfaced online once again, triggering debate over his anti-immigration hardline stance.

"America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We're full. Let's finally put our own people first," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on September 2.

Kirk's post came in response to Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham's X post in which she opined that any trade deal with India would require the US to give them more visas. "I'd rather not pay them in visas and trade deficits," Ms Ingraham wrote.

President Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to announce the death of 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organisation Turning Point USA. Addressing him as "great, and even legendary," President Trump said, "No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by all, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us."

Extending condolences, President Trump wrote, "Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!"

President Trump hailed Kirk as a "martyr for truth" for his conservative values. Kirk "fought for liberty, democracy, justice and the American people. He's a martyr for truth and freedom," the 79-year-old Republican said in a video posted on Truth Social.

Assuring action against assailants, President Trump said, "My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organisations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country."