The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has rattled lawmakers on Capitol Hill, plunging members of Congress into a new cycle of fear about their own safety and setting off a scramble to boost security in ways that some warn could reshape the relationship between elected officials and the public they represent.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on Wednesday while addressing a large outdoor crowd at Utah Valley University. The FBI has yet to identify the gunman or determine a motive, though the agency has released photos of a person of interest they believe is tied to the shooting. The attack, brazen and public, has been the latest flashpoint in a string of politically motivated violence that has shadowed American politics in recent years, including two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, the mob assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, and more recently, the killings of former Minnesota state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
In the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting, members of Congress have taken steps to beef up their security and move public events indoors or cancel them altogether. One Republican lawmaker is even vowing to carry a firearm at all times.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who has faced numerous death threats during her tenure in Congress, said Thursday she was postponing two weekend events in North Carolina due to security concerns in the wake of Kirk’s killing. “From the moment I was elected, I have felt that I accept a certain level of risk in doing this job,” the progressive lawmaker told reporters, adding that existing security protocols for members of Congress were “not designed for a digital threat environment era.”
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, a Republican running for governor who has been an outspoken critic of transgender people, said she was canceling all outdoor appearances “for the foreseeable future” and vowed to carry a firearm at all times. “Any elected official across the country, if you are vocal, your life is at risk,” Mace told reporters.
The sense of alarm was on stark display inside the House chamber only hours after the shooting. Speaker Mike Johnson tried to lead a moment of silence for Kirk, but what began as solemn reflection quickly dissolved into shouting and finger-pointing across the aisle. “Y’all caused this,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, yelled at Democrats.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has struck a more measured tone. He said he was “always about turning down the temperature” and urged colleagues to “walk in the dignity of their office.” Still, he acknowledged the fear coursing through the Capitol. “We’ve got to protect people who run for public office, or no one will,” he said.
That responsibility now falls squarely on Johnson as both the House’s institutional leader and the person charged with overseeing the security of its 435 members. He said leadership was reviewing a pilot program that earlier this year expanded funding for personal security, including $20,000 in residential security reimbursements and $5,000 a month for private protection. Fewer than two dozen lawmakers participated, he noted, leaving leaders with limited data to assess its impact. But with the program set to expire at the end of September, Johnson suggested Congress could extend or expand it.
“There are many security measures in place for members of Congress, at their homes, at their offices and when they go about,” Johnson told reporters. “But we live in a dangerous society, and it’s difficult to cover even the President of the United States from every angle.”
Read more: The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Political Violence Haunting America
Threats against politicians, their families, and their staff have been on the rise in recent years. The U.S. Capitol Police, which has struggled to keep pace with rising threats, said it is on track to investigate 14,000 threat cases involving lawmakers this year—up from about 9,000 in 2024. In 2017, that figure was less than 4,000. Officers have been operating in what they described as a “heightened threat environment” since Jan. 6, 2021, when they fought off a violent mob of Trump supporters intent on halting the certification of the presidential election.
On Thursday morning, as members walked to the Capitol for votes, there was a conspicuous police presence. Later in the day, Capitol Police responded to a bomb threat a few blocks away at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. The threat turned out to be a false alarm, but the scare rippled through a Capitol already on edge after Kirk’s assassination.
The Secret Service has also increased security for President Trump. A ceremony at the Pentagon for the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Thursday was moved to a more secure location so Trump could deliver a speech, the Wall Street Journal reported. There will be additional measures in place when Trump attends a New York Yankees game on Thursday night as well, the Secret Service said.
Some lawmakers argued that pulling back from public appearances would only embolden would-be attackers. “It’s important that I continue to go out and do what I would normally do,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican. “You don’t want to give into a culture of fear and withdraw.”
Others have voiced frustration with what they see as insufficient preparation from congressional leaders. “We’ve got to re-evaluate what we’re doing. I think we better start taking it serious,” Rep. Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, told reporters. “And our leadership is woefully ill-prepared. … They’re surrounded in their little protective bubble, and they look at us, and it’s been weeks after the last incident before we ever got anything.”
He added that he’s worried something “really bad is going to happen before we get something done up here.”
The choices Congress makes in the coming weeks could shape how closely lawmakers interact with the public they serve—and whether voters will still have the same kind of access to their representatives that has long been a hallmark of American politics.
“People are scared to death in this building,” Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who has received death threats himself, told reporters. “Not many of them will say it publicly, but they’re running to the Speaker talking about security.”
The post ‘People Are Scared to Death’: Members of Congress Cancel Events, Call for Increased Security After Kirk’s Assassination appeared first on TIME.
