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Lawmakers quickly sounded off after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot during an event on his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon.
It was later announced that Kirk, 31, had died.
“It’s devastating news,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said. “The idea that political violence has taken one of the strongest voices on the conservative side is a great heartbreak. Charlie was a close friend of mine and a confidant, and he will be sorely missed, and we need every political leader to decry the violence and to do it loudly. The problem is in the human heart, and it’s gotten out of hand.”
Prayers for Kirk, as well as condemnation of political violence poured in from both Democrats and Republicans minutes after the news broke that he was shot.
“This is a good time to pray,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on X, adding that he was monitoring the situation.
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Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., a first-term Democrat, wrote online, “Political violence has NO place in our society. I am closely monitoring the events in Utah.”
“The attack on Charlie Kirk today is a horrific act of political violence. Praying for his safety and for his family in this trying time. We must reject and condemn political violence in all its forms,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said in a statement.
Kirk’s shooting follows a wave of high-profile political assassination attempts in an increasingly polarized political environment.
President Donald Trump survived two separate assassination attempts within weeks of each other while running for re-election in 2024. Meanwhile, a gunman in Minnesota shot and killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, while critically injuring another state lawmaker, this past June.
The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, also spoke out to condemn the violence.
“Political violence is NEVER acceptable. My thoughts and prayers are with Charlie Kirk and his family,” Jeffries wrote in a statement.
The top Democrat and Republican in the Senate both sounded off with similar sentiments in the minutes after Kirk was shot.
“There is no place in our country for political violence. Period, full stop. Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote on X.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on the site, “Political violence has no place in America. This shooting is horrifying, and I’m praying for Charlie Kirk and his family.”
Kirk also got support from former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who left Congress after she was shot and nearly killed in a political assassination attempt in 2011.
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“I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah. Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” Giffords wrote.
She added that she and her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., are praying for Kirk’s recovery.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., condemned gun violence after the shooting on Wednesday.
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“The horrific shooting today at Utah Valley University is reprehensible. Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation. All Americans should pray for Charlie Kirk’s recovery and hold the entire UVU community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence,” Pelosi wrote in a statement.
Ellen Treanor, Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications Management at Utah Valley University, initially told Fox News that a person of interest was in custody after Kirk’s shooting. They were later released, according to police.
Police do not currently have a suspect in custody, according to an updated statement.
A White House official, meanwhile, told Fox News that the tragic event was being monitored in the situation room and by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his role as National Security Advisor.
Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich and Samantha Daigle contributed to this report. Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes also contributed to this report.
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