Republicans lashed out at Democrats and members of the media, saying their language and news coverage incited a killer.
Democrats blamed Republicans for blocking gun safety legislation they said could have prevented the shooting and countless others.
And behind the scenes and the partisan strife, members of Congress in both parties begged their leaders to provide more security to protect them from rising political violence in the wake of the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at an event on a university campus.
The killing of Mr. Kirk has intensified already pervasive fears among lawmakers on Capitol Hill about personal safety, even as it has fed the cycle of finger-pointing and partisan warfare in the toxic political discourse often gripping Congress and the country.
Ever since rioters threatened their lives inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Democrats and Republicans have been living on edge, and under a near-constant barrage of death threats, with some stalked by armed and angry individuals or even targeted for assassination.
“My head’s always on a swivel,” said Representative Nick LaLota, Republican of New York and a Navy veteran who served three deployments overseas.
After the fatal shooting of Mr. Kirk, many immediately scrapped upcoming outdoor events and said an already untenable security situation had grown even worse.
“People are scared to death in this building,” said Representative Jared Moskowitz, the Florida Democrat who was the target of an assassination plot last year. “Not many of them will say it publicly, but they’re running to the speaker talking about security — and that’s a lot of Republicans. People are scared, really scared.”
But even as lawmakers across the political spectrum said they were petrified and their leaders urged everyone to “turn down the temperature,” as Speaker Mike Johnson put it, some Republicans stepped up their heated statements. They echoed President Trump’s bid to blame and target the political left for Mr. Kirk’s death.
Representative Derrick Van Orden, Republican of Wisconsin, did not wait to learn about the motivations or the profile of the shooter before condemning his political opponents and the media.
“The left and their policies are leading America into a civil war,” he wrote on social media, posting on X more than 40 times in response to Mr. Kirk’s murder. “The gloves are off. This I will defend.”
At the Capitol, he told reporters: “You are responsible for this because you are echoing the horrifically horrible political violent rhetoric produced by the Democrat party.”
The reaction was in keeping with how Mr. Trump and some of his supporters reacted to the assassination attempt against him in July last year, complaining that Democrats had made him a target by branding him a threat to democracy without acknowledging his provocative language.
News of Mr. Kirk’s death added to an already fraught atmosphere in the House, where lawmakers learned about the shooting on Wednesday while milling around the chamber during a series of votes that lasted well over an hour.
Members of both parties appeared visibly shaken as Mr. Trump’s announcement on Truth Social that Mr. Kirk had died flashed across their phone screens.
Representative Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who was shot by a gunman in 2017, sat alone and in silence for several minutes processing the news.
“It was hard to focus,” he told CBS News on Thursday morning.
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, both Republicans, huddled near the chamber’s center aisle, looking shocked.
Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, appeared shaken and held a tissue in her hand.
“It’s just really hard,” she said, noting that she had been scheduled to attend an event with Mr. Kirk in Colorado on Thursday night and that her sons were set to meet with him next week. “It’s obviously a turning point, and I hope it turns in the right direction.”
But there was little evidence of such a turn. After a brief moment of silence, distraught Republicans looked across the House floor and immediately saw political opponents they could scream at and blame.
“You all caused this,” Representative Anna Paulina Luna, the Florida Republican who got her start in politics working for Mr. Kirk’s organization, Turning Points USA, said, shouting an expletive and pointing at Democrats.
Democrats jeered at Republicans who asked for a prayer on the House floor, noting that they had essentially ignored a school shooting earlier in the day.
“Pass some gun laws!” one shouted.
By Thursday, the implications of the assassination were sinking in. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, said on Thursday that she was rescheduling a planned rally in North Carolina because of the shooting, in part out of respect for Mr. Kirk but also because she did not feel safe attending.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for years has been dealing with daily threats, which she has described as terrifying and an “all-encompassing” part of her job.
Representative James E. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, said that everyone was rattled and that “outdoor political events are probably going to be a thing of the past.” He conceded that “security is more on members’ minds than it’s ever been.”
Across the Capitol, Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said the killing had renewed discussions of procuring security for all members while they are away from the Capitol.
“At the rate we’re going, it’s not a matter of if,” he said. “Ultimately, every member needs to be protected.”
At the same time, several Republican lawmakers argued that the scourge of political violence was the sole fault of their political adversaries.
Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, on Thursday blamed Democrats for comparing their political opponents to Hitler and other fascists.
“We’ve had three assassinations, or assassination attempts, of major political figures in the last 18 months,” he said. “All the targets are one persuasion, and all the shooters are one persuasion.”
Mr. Hawley had to be reminded by a reporter of the assassination of Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, who was killed in June.
Other Republicans used the opportunity to condemn liberal beliefs as evil.
“Some on the American left are undoubtedly well-meaning people, but their ideology is pure evil,” Representative Bob Onder, Republican of Missouri, said on Thursday in a speech on the House floor. “They hate the good, the truth, and the beautiful, and embrace the evil, the false, and the ugly.”
Mr. Massie, a libertarian who is sometimes fiercely at odds with his party, was the only Republican who pointed a finger at the president for using language he suggested had helped to fuel the fire of political violence, inspiring people to make threats or take actions both for him and against him.
“There is a lot of rhetoric, and the president himself engages in it,” said Mr. Massie, who is often a target of angry presidential threats. “It doesn’t offend me that he’s over the top with the rhetoric, but some people take it literally, and he should probably tone that down himself.”
Representative Mike Levin, Democrat of California, said that as he watched members lash out at each other on the House floor in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, he felt like a parent navigating an impossible argument between his teenage children.
“Luna’s over here screaming, and then our people are screaming back,” he said. “And I have my own feelings about who started it. You probably do too, but none of that matters at this moment. Right now, we all just need to stop.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership.
Megan Mineiro is a Times congressional reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
Catie Edmondson covers Congress for The Times.
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