The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is the latest in a wave of political violence. Robert Costa and Matthew Continetti discuss what steps can be taken to prevent future attacks.

Authorities have recovered a high-powered rifle believed to have been used in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and investigators are confident that video evidence will help identify the suspected shooter. Experts discussed Kirk's influence on American conservatism, particularly his role in engaging young people through Turning Point USA and his close ties to former President Trump and his family.

The assassination has been described as an attack on free speech and the principles of open debate, with commentators emphasizing the need for national unity and a recommitment to democratic values. The event has sparked discussions about political violence in the United States and the importance of protecting spaces for public discourse.

Experts weigh solutions after Charlie Kirk's assassination

We did get some information about this incident yesterday from investigators who moments ago said they recovered a high-powered rifle they believe was used in this killing. And they also said that they believe they have good quality video of the suspected shooter, and they're confident that they can bring technologies to bear to identify that individual. But back to the question of how we move forward as we reflect on what has already happened. How do we address political violence in this country? Joining us now, CBS News Chief Washington Analyst, Robert Costa, and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and the author of the book, The Right, The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, Matthew Contenetti. Matthew, I wanna start with you because we've got you here remotely. Thank you for joining us. That fight for American conservatism is a fight that Charlie Kirk was part of. For people who didn't know who he was, he really mattered to that community. Can you talk about him as an individual and as a national figure in conservative politics? Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Charlie Kirk was the most influential conservative activist in a generation. You know, there's a misunderstanding that conservatism is somehow a persuasion for older people, but in fact, the American conservative movement has always been a youth movement. That was the case in the middle of the 20th century with Young Americans for Freedom, William F. Buckley Jr., and now with this newest version of conservatism, Make America Great Again, we had Charlie Kirk as a youth leader really bringing into being an extraordinarily successful organization, Turning Point USA. What Charlie Kirk did was appeal to young people around the country through social media, through his open debate, through kind of his personal lifestyle, his religious faith, his young family. He was an inspiration for millions, and many, many people are mourning his death. When you just think about the 3,000 people that were at that event, you see how popular he was. Bob, I'm gonna turn to you. President Trump was the one to really break the news of his death. What was the president's relationship with Kirk? Kirk had built a relationship not only with President Trump, but with President Trump's family. Donald Trump Jr. was a frequent figure on the rally stage at Turning Point events, and he was someone who had built a bond with leaders across the Trump movement. He was seen also as someone who, when President Trump was out of office from 2021 through 2024, helped to sustain that populist Trump movement with his events, drawing young people in, and he's notable for not being necessarily a Republican on every point. Yes, he's a conservative and a Republican, but he was not a party man. He was a conservative activist who had his own views, and he really built a following for his brand of conservatism, and that made him a political force, and Republican politicians, not only President Trump, they listened closely to what Charlie had to say. What was that distinction? You know, he was a conservative man, but not necessarily following all of the, you know, the platform of the Republican Party. You can see it in the way he died, in the sense that he was in the arena. He was trying to be in the dialogue, ideologically, in this country to counter left-wing arguments, to be a presence making a case for conservatism. He wasn't aiming necessarily to run for the U.S. Senate or to run for the presidency, though allies of President Trump told me this morning he believes Charlie could have had a real political future should he have lived. This is someone who, as Matthew Continetti so well said, in the mid part of the 20th century, conservatism was a youth movement, and Charlie Kirk comes out of that tradition, someone who's articulating those values and trying to bring young people in, especially on college campuses where conservatives have not always felt welcome at certain schools. Historians argue that Barry Goldwater actually won the 60s, not the left, and I think Charlie's part of a continuation of that. I wanna bring Matthew back in. Matthew, we just heard the special agent in charge of the investigation there in Utah talk about this being an attack on the First Amendment, and that's the kind of statement that I think is true, one, and two, points to the possibility that all Americans might come together in some sort of unity in the aftermath of this. Do you think that's possible? How do we bring it about? Well, I think one reason why the nation is so shocked and dismayed by the Kirk assassination is that it wasn't just one individual who lost his life. What happened yesterday was an attack on America. As the special agent said, it was an attack on the First Amendment. It was an attack on the university as a place for free inquiry and open debate. These are the very tethers of our society. You don't have a self-governing democracy if you can't go out into the public square and speak your mind without fear. And so I think what happened yesterday was an act of terrorism against the United States of America, not just a political assassination. Now, will we have unity? I think most of the country is bereft. It's grimly symbolic that this killing took place the day before the 24th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, but we know that unity doesn't always last. And so what I think what we really need now is a national commitment to the principles and institutions that have governed this country to make us 250 years old this coming year and to not forget what really makes this democracy work. It is free speech. It is open debate. It is universities that are places of learning, not terror. I think that's well said. Well said, indeed. Matthew Continetti, Robert Costa, thank you so much. That was today's By the Way.

Photos of a "person of interest" in the assassination of Charlie Kirk were released by the Salt Lake City FBI. Authorities are searching for the person who shot and killed the conservative activist at an event at Utah Valley University.

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Photos released of "person of interest" in Charlie Kirk assassination

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