One year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025, the man accused of murdering him has pleaded not guilty and is headed to trial⁠. But another trial has been taking place in American politics since the day Kirk was shot, on whether we still possess the moral and epistemic foundations necessary to overcome political violence. 

About a year before Kirk’s murder, President Donald Trump survived his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania⁠. I wrote then in the Hill that the answer to political violence was political discourse. I still believe open discourse is necessary in a liberal republic. But I was wrong to think it is sufficient.