Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Friday addressed Charlie Kirk’s killing while speaking at the University of Notre Dame, stressing the need to “learn to have disagreements in a civil and collegial way.”
At the start of her appearance to promote her new book, “Listening to the Law,” Barrett was asked to comment on the recent violence.
“Too often when I look around the country, political violence is the most grotesque symptom of it, but there are others, too, just in online conversations and the way that people treat those with whom they disagree,” Barrett told the crowd of college students.
“And that’s actually one of the points that I try to make in the book is that’s just not a way to run a society,” Barrett continued.
When asked about her own safety, the justice expressed confidence.
“I’m in very good hands, so I feel safe, but we do have round-the-clock security,” she said.
Kirk, a conservative activist known for his prominent role rallying young conservatives, was fatally shot Wednesday while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University hosted by his group, Turning Point USA.
Authorities earlier on Friday announced the capture of suspect Tyler Robinson in Kirk’s killing.
The Supreme Court justices’ security has become an increasing concern in recent years, including after a man showed up to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in 2022 with the intent to assassinate him.
Earlier this year, a separate defendant pleaded guilty to carjacking Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s security detail stationed outside her home.
