Political leaders confront security concerns — and fear — after Kirk’s assassination

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Even before the killing of Charlie Kirk, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania was struggling with the emotional toll of political violence.

In the middle of the night just five months ago, someone broke into his home and set it on fire. Shapiro, who is also a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, was asleep with his wife and children.

And in the weeks since his family fled the blaze, Shapiro has been forced to confront the vexing questions now consuming elected officials in both parties as they face the impact of Kirk’s assassination on their own public lives.

“The emotional challenge for me that’s been the hardest to work through is that, as a father, the career I chose, that I find great purpose and meaning in, ended up putting my children’s lives at risk,” Shapiro, a father of four, told The Associated Press. “Make no mistake, the emotional burden of being a father through this has been something that continues to be a challenge for me to this day.”

Across the nation, it is much the same for Republican and Democratic officials after another stunning act of political violence. Politicians in both parties and at virtually every level of public service are suddenly being forced to deal with acute security concerns — and feelings of grief, anger and fear — as they move deeper into a fraught election season.

Some political leaders are canceling public appearances. Others are relying on a large police presence to keep them safe. And still others insist that the fallout from Kirk’s death won’t have any impact on their duties.

Indeed, even as Shapiro offered prayers for Kirk’s widow and children, the Democratic governor said he is undeterred in his duties as a leading figure in his national party and his state.

“I’m not slowing down,” he said.

On that, he and President Donald Trump appear to agree.

The Republican president was asked during a Friday appearance on Fox News if he would cancel any public appearances of his own.

“You have to go forward,” he said.

Violent rhetoric surges

Bellicose rhetoric and even death threats have surged in the days since Kirk was killed.

“The left is the party of murder,” Elon Musk, the tech titan and CEO of the social media platform X, wrote. “If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die.”

To that, Fox News host Jesse Waters said during a broadcast, “They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. What are we going to do about it?”

On Friday, a right-wing activist posted online a video outside Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s home, calling on followers to “take action.”

The charged environment prompted a number of public officials, largely Democrats, to postpone public appearances.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., canceled a Saturday town hall in Las Vegas “out of an abundance of caution for town hall participants, attendees, and members of the media.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also postponed a weekend event in North Carolina due to security concerns.

Former Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, which works to attract young people to the GOP, said his group canceled a Thursday night event in California featuring conservative commentator Ben Shapiro out of respect for Kirk and his family.

And while officials in both parties acknowledged that new security precautions would be in place — for the short term, at least — cancelations have been rare.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, another potential Democratic presidential prospect who recently announced his 2026 reelection campaign, said he would not change his public schedule because of the increased threat even as political violence will be on his mind.

“It’s never something that completely leaves you, but I don’t think it can be something that debilitates you,” Moore told The Associated Press.

When asked if he expects a retaliatory attack against Democrats, the former Army captain insisted, “We are not at war with one another.”

“As someone who has seen war, as someone who knows what war looks like, as someone who will live with the realities of war for the rest of my life, I refuse to ever believe that we in the country are at war with one another,” he said. “And I refuse to believe that that we as a country are devolving into some just kind of type of retaliatory tit for tat.”

“Resorting to violence is a remarkable sign of weakness,” Moore added. “It means you can’t win a political argument.”

And yet political violence is becoming more frequent in the United States.

Former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head as she met with constituents in 2011. Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot at a congressional team baseball practice in 2017. Trump was grazed by a bullet last summer on the stump in Pennsylvania. And barely three months ago, the top Democrat in the Minnesota state house and her husband were gunned down at home.

What it looks like on the campaign trail

Several uniformed police officers stood side by side along the entrance of a public park where the Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill, met voters Friday to discuss measures designed to bring transparency to the state budget process.

The significant security presence was a sharp shift from Sherrill’s recent events.

In Illinois, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Aaron Del Mar, said he and other GOP candidates are discussing new security precautions, such as bringing events indoors, enhanced use of metal detectors and background checks on those who attend their events.

“There’s a lot of concern right now,” he said.

Back in New Jersey, 35-year-old Democrat Maira Barbosa attended Sherrill’s event with her 16-month-old son. She said she’s never been more resolved to show up to a political event in person, even as she admitted she had second thoughts.

“We’re seeing so much hate speech and we’re seeing people advocate for violence, so of course it makes me concerned, especially to the point of bringing my son,” she said. “If we don’t participate, if we don’t get involved, who is going to represent us?”

Top Democratic governors speak out

In interviews, governors Shapiro and Moore largely avoided casting blame for the current era of political violence, although they were critical of Trump’s immediate response to Kirk’s shooting.

The Republican president highlighted only attacks against Republicans during his Oval Office address on Thursday and blamed “the radical left” for Kirk’s shooting, even before the suspect was arrested.

Shapiro said Trump “misused the power of an Oval Office address.”

“To be clear, the political violence has impacted Democrats and Republicans, and the rhetoric of vengeance and the language that has created division has come from both sides of the political divide,” Shapiro said. “No one party has clean hands, and no one party is immune from the threat of political violence.”

Moore called for everyone to tone down the rhetoric.

“I just think it’s important for the president and anyone else to understand that your words matter, and leadership is how you lift us up in darkness, not how you use it as a moment for opportunism and to introduce more darkness and finger pointing into into an already horrific situation,” he said.

“I’m praying for our country,” Moore continued. “I’m praying that the legacy of this moment is we got better — not that we got worse.”

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Associated Press writers Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix; Laura Bargfeld in Chicago; Chris Megerian in Washington; and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.