_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
Ohio lawmakers have taken to social media to condemn the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and express their solidarity with Kirk’s family.
Kirk was killed while speaking to a crowd at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The founder of right-wing youth activism group Turning Point USA was an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump. Kirk’s killer is still at large.
The shooting prompted bipartisan support for Kirk and his family from state and local politicians.
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) posted about the incident on X on Wednesday, which he called “absolutely horrible.”
“We do not harm people we disagree with. This violence has no place in America,” Landsman said in the post.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval echoed Landsman’s sentiments in his Wednesday X post, calling the shooting an act of political violence that is both “despicable” and “dangerous.”
Several Ohio Republicans, some of whom knew Kirk, posted similar statements on their X accounts.
Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) said he and his family are “mourning” Kirk’s death in an X post, stating that his killing is a “tragedy for his beautiful young family.”
Fellow Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) shared his thoughts via two long X posts. On Wednesday, Moreno posted that he met Kirk over a decade ago and was “blessed” to have known him. Moreno said Kirk “left a generation of young Americans forever inspired.”
On Thursday, Moreno shared his thoughts on how Kirk’s death could impact America’s political landscape.
“I am convinced this moment is literally a turning point for the US,” Moreno said in the post. “Many more people will join the movement he started, be even more motivated to speak freely, engage in political debate, seek out facts, reject the left wing media narratives, and get their country back.”
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who represents Ohio’s 8th district and was formerly a member of the House’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, said Kirk was an “icon for the conservative movement, but also an ardent supporter of open dialogue and peaceful debate.”
Kirk was known for debating students on cultural and political issues on college campuses, often taking far-right positions. Clips of his debates regularly went viral on social media. In his speeches, podcasts and debates, Kirk told young women to attend college for a “MRS degree,” argued that some gun deaths each year are “worth it” for maintaining the Second Amendment, stated that he would question the qualifications of Black pilots due to DEI hiring initiatives, and told singer Taylor Swift to “submit to [her] husband.”
Kirk’s activism stood alongside a growing conservative movement in America, especially among the youth. According to The Civics Center, young men ages 18-20 swung toward Trump in the 2024 election. The president himself announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social, calling him “legendary.”