Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he is “very confident” in the Capitol police force and noted that many of the incidents that have occurred were not located in Capitol buildings. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner).
Wisconsin leaders condemned political violence and said they are continuing to discuss security in the Capitol on Thursday following the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at a university event in Orem, Utah. The search is still underway for the shooter.
During a floor session Thursday, the Wisconsin State Assembly held a moment of silence for Kirk as well as one to honor the 24th anniversary of 9/11.
“Mr. Kirk’s family are in our thoughts today,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said at a press conference. “We are still sad about the assassination of Representative Melissa Horton in Minnesota. Political violence and violence is never the answer — whether it’s the arson attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the attempt on President Trump’s life or the university and college shootings that are happening all across our nation. Violence is never the answer.”
Hesselbein also acknowledged the shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado that happened Wednesday afternoon.
“This was another senseless act of political violence unfortunately against Charlie Kirk, and I want to express my deepest condolences to his loved ones,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said. “We all condemn political violence in the strongest possible terms. No one should fear for their lives because of their jobs.”
Security and safety concerns have been at the forefront of lawmakers’ minds this year, especially after the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. The names of several Wisconsin politicians were found on a list of targets belonging to the Minnesota shooting suspect.
“Given the recent rise in political violence, of course, this is top of mind for many of our colleagues, and of course, the staff who work in the Capitol as well as the press, the guests, the children that come through this building on Capitol visits,” Neubauer said. “It’s an ongoing conversation, and we hope to continue that with our Republican colleagues, who of course control the safety in our chambers, as well as the other entities in the Capitol.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he is “very confident” in the Capitol police force and noted that many of the incidents that have occurred were not located in Capitol buildings.
“When you look at Minnesota, it was in their homes. If you look at what happened yesterday to Charlie Kirk, it was in a public venue on campus, so the idea that we’re somehow going to fortify a single building to make people feel safer when the reality is that most of the violence that has occurred has not been inside of the buildings, but outside of people’s home.
In a video Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump condemned the assassination and listed acts of violence that have occurred against right-leaning figures, including the attempt on his own life last year, but neglected to mention the murder of the Hortmans. He blamed the incidents on “radical left political violence.”
“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now,” Trump said. “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence.”
Asked about Trump only recognizing violence against conservatives, Vos said he didn’t see the comments. But Vos said he knows that in Trump’s “heart” he believes that “assassination is 100% of the time wrong.”
“When Melissa Hortman, who was clearly a liberal Democrat, I didn’t hear anybody on the right celebrating the fact that she was assassinated. It was awful, and that’s what it should be,” Vos said, adding that he condemned anyone celebrating Kirk’s death.
During the moment of silence, Vos said Kirk was a man “who represented free speech” and “was silenced in the most horrific way possible.” He said that the country is “rapidly deteriorating” as “many see the other party as their mortal enemies out to destroy the country, not just good-hearted political rivals that we should be.”
Wisconsin’s congressional delegation and other state leaders also condemned political violence on Wednesday, though one Republican has taken the route of blaming others for the violence.
Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said that “there is no two ways about this: political violence has no place in America. I am keeping Charlie and his family in my thoughts in this truly horrifying moment.”
U.S. Rep. Tony Wied called Kirk “a true American Patriot” and said “his legacy will live on for generations to come.”
“There is absolutely zero place for political violence in our country,” Wied said.
“Violence against anyone because of their political beliefs is wrong. Violence against others is wrong. Violence is never the answer for resolving our differences or disagreements,” Gov. Tony Evers said. “Wisconsin joins in praying for Charlie Kirk and the Utah Valley community and first responders.”
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, has been posting consistently since news broke about the assassination, blaming reporters and Democrats for the violence.
“The left and their policies are leading America into a civil war. And they want it,” Van Orden wrote in one post. In another, he said reporters and Democrats were “directly culpable.”
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker said in a statement that Van Orden was encouraging violence.
“His terrifying statements, which are inviting civil war and encouraging violence against Democrats and the media, are being completely ignored by Republicans in Wisconsin and in D.C.. They have a responsibility to tell Derrick Van Orden to stop pouring gasoline on an open flame, and I implore them to do so immediately,” Remiker said.
Remiker had already condemned the violence in a statement Wednesday, saying, “this sort of violence will continue until all of us, regardless of party, condemn these sorts of heinous actions.”
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