PHILADELPHIA — On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke at a Philadelphia event about the importance of civic discourse as a means of quelling political violence.
Neither is a stranger to the impacts of such incidents in their respective states.
Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University
.President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. Shapiro's own home was firebombed while his family slept after a Passover seder in 2025. A man pleaded guilty to attempted murder, aggravated arson and terrorism in connection to the incident and said he targeted Shapiro becauseof his perceived stance on the Israel-Hamas
war.
But the threats have kept coming, Shapiro said, adding that six people have been arrested for making "terroristic threats" against him and his family within the last six or seven months. Many of the threats have been rooted in antisemitism, he said.
"I think we should be deeply concerned, and I think it is something that we all have a responsibility to not reward acts of political violence, not engrandize them and . . . not allow it to take deeper root in our nation," Shapiro said.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation presented the event, which was promoted as a bipartisan “candid fireside chat,” in partnership with the National Constitution Center and Disagree Better, an initiative Cox launched while serving as chair of the National Governors Association in 2023.
The governors acknowledged their vast differences on myriad issues but described a shared interest in fostering better communication throughout the country.
“I don’t know that we’re going to save the country overnight, but I truly believe the way we save the country is one conversation and one relationship at a time,” Cox said.
There are roadblocks. Nearly one-third of students believe it is acceptable, at least in rare cases, to use violence to stop a campus speech, according to a report the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression published on Sept. 9.
Cox referenced the increasing share of Americans who have lost close relationships over political differences, and moderator Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the New York Times referenced a Knight Foundation study that found only 54% of Americans feel free to express their political views.
The governors also listed factors including social media algorithms and heated rhetoric from elected leaders.
"There is a ... market failure in both parties right now, for sure," Cox said.
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kirk killing, one year later: Has US learned to quell violent rhetoric?
