US secretary of state calls Charlie Kirk’s assassination attempt to silence dialogue in America

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the killing of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was an attempt to abort dialogue within America.

“Charlie was a frequent guest on the podcasts and on the shows of people who he did not agree with, and he had guests on his show that he did not agree with,” Rubio told a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“He was assassinated in the middle of that kind of discourse,” he said.

“I think (it) was an effort not simply to silence Charlie's voice, but I think (it) is an effort to intimidate and silence that kind of effort in America, and I think for the world to engage in that kind of discourse with people you disagree with,” Rubio said.

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while addressing a group of students at Utah Valley University in the city of Orem, some 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.