Barrett Calls Political Violence ‘Grotesque,’ Urges Civility (1)

US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said political violence is the “most grotesque” symptom of tense discourse in America today, and encouraged more collegiality and civility following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Responding to a question Friday at the University of Notre Dame about political violence and the campus slaying of Kirk in Utah, Barrett lamented the way she said people increasingly handle differences, especially online.

“I think too often, when I look around the country—political violence is the most grotesque symptom of it—but there are others, too. In online conversations and the way people treat those with whom they disagree,” Barrett said. “It’s just not a way to run a society.”

She encouraged students at her alma mater, especially, to “model a different way to be” and “learn to have disagreements in a civil and collegial way.”

Before she appeared on stage, Notre Dame President Rev. Robert Dowd and professor Phillip Muñoz, who conducted the question-and-answer session with Barrett, reflected on the Kirk shooting at Utah Valley University and other violence, and the decision to still hold the event.

“This event today had to happen,” Muñoz said. “Wednesday was an attack on all of us—all of us who believe in argument and debate and free speech and the clash of ideas. Mr. Kirk was killed on a university campus. Assassinated for making arguments. Assassinated for engaging in the very work a university is supposed to do.”

Barrett’s appearance was part of her promotional tour for her book, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.”