Law enforcement responds after conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Maryland political leaders from both sides of the aisle were united Wednesday in their call for an end to political violence, after the fatal shooting of high-profile conservative political activist Charlie Kirk during an event at a Utah college campus.

“Today, Maryland, the country, and the world saw yet another act of heinous political violence on American soil,” Gov. Wes Moore (D) said in a written statement Wednesday evening.

“Political violence is unacceptable. We will not tolerate it – not now, not ever,” his statement said. “In the wake of today’s events, we share a collective responsibility to condemn this tragedy in the strongest possible terms and be bold in our commitment to greater unity and peace.”

Moore ordered that flags on state facilities will be flown at half-staff, through sundown Sunday, mirroring an earlier order by President Donald Trump (R) who said U.S. flags would be flown at half-staff “as a mark of respect for the memory of Charlie Kirk.”

The shooting brought an outpouring of statements from Maryland political leaders throughout the afternoon Wednesday, echoing Moore’s remark, after news broke of the attack.

Maryland’s Senate Republicans joined in a written statement, praising Kirk and calling for a rejection of political violence.

“The killing of Charlie Kirk is a shocking and tragic act of violence. He was a husband, a father and a national voice who chose to engage in spirited debate and conversation on collage campuses,” the statement said. “There is never any justification for political violence.”

Kirk was appearing Wednesday afternoon at an event at Utah Valley University sponsored by Turning Point USA, the youth-oriented political organization he founded and ran. At similar campus events, he would take questions from students and debate the on various political topics.

Kirk was in the middle of responding to a question on gang violence and mass shootings around 12:20 p.m. when he appeared to be struck by a single shot, according to reports. Videos of the attack and students fleeing the campus quickly circulated online.

Kirk was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, according to news reports. Trump announced the death on Truth Social at 4:40 p.m.

It’s yet another high-profile shooting of a political figure in a little more than a year dating back to  July 2024, when Trump narrowly avoided an assassination attempt while on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania.

In June of this year, Minnesota House Speaker Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband were shot and killed at their home in what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) called a “politically motivated attack.” Just hours earlier, Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife were shot in their home, but survived. The same man is suspected in both shootings.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said in a social media post Wednesday that, just as he “tragically” prayed for the Hortman family after the Minnesota shooting, “I now pray for the Kirk family who is facing the unimaginable.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) lamented a school shooting in Colorado that also occurred midday Wednesday as the news primarily followed Kirk’s attack.

“First the shooting of Charlie Kirk, and then the shooting at Evergreen High School,” Scott said on social media. “This senseless violence has no place in our country, whether politically motivated or otherwise. No one should ever have to live in fear in our classrooms, schools or places of worship.”

Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), called Kirk an “American patriot” and wished his family well during “this time of imaginable loss.”

Sympathy for Kirk and his family, as well as bipartisan condemnation of political violence, began as soon as news of his shooting was out, even before Kirk’s death was confirmed.

House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) and House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R-Frederick) said in a joint statement that “we cannot hate our way to a better America.”

“We cannot commit horrific acts of wanton violence against those who may strongly disagree with us about matters of public policy,” their statement said. “That is not democracy. It is not American. We must make sure that every citizen of this nation, of all political persuasions, understands that violence in pursuit of silencing debate is never the answer and that no one should countenance these disgusting actions.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD-D) agreed, posting that “violence is never the answer” when he learned Kirk was shot. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) called the attack “horrific and senseless.”

“There can be absolutely no place for political violence in America,” Hogan said in a social media post.

Maryland U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) took to social media to condemn “another absolutely disgraceful act of gun violence” and offered thoughts and prayers for Kirk’s family prior to his death.

“We must categorically reject all violence in our society,” Raskin’s statement said.