House lawmakers erupted at one another Wednesday when a Republican lawmaker requested Speaker Mike Johnson say a prayer for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and his family.
Mr. Kirk, a popular 31-year-old conservative activist, was shot dead earlier in the day by an unidentified assassin at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem.
Following the moment of silence, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican, called on Mr. Johnson to hold a moment of prayer for Mr. Kirk and his family, but a group of Democrats, came out against her request for the prayer, and began rallying together and said “No!”
An unidentified Democratic lawmaker shouted that another shooting in Colorado happened Wednesday, but that there were no prayers requested for that incident.
Another Democratic lawmaker yelled, “Pass some gun laws!”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, shot back, “You f—-ing own this!”
Ms. Luna previously posted on X following the news of the shooting, “I am done with the rhetoric this rotten House and corrupt media has caused. Every damn one of you who called us fascists did this.”
The latter sentence was written in all capital letters.
Mr. Johnson, irritated by the back-and-forth yelling between the lawmakers, banged his gavel and called for order.
Lawmakers and officials on both sides of the aisle did offer prayers and condolences to Mr. Kirk and his family in online statements, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, New York Democrat.
Video of the attack shows a single shot striking Mr. Kirk in the neck as he was answering questions from the gathering of mostly college students at UVU.
President Trump personally announced Mr. Kirk’s death to the world hours after the shooting, offering his sympathies to the family and calling the 31-year-old husband and father “great, and even legendary.”
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” the president said.
— Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
