Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Wednesday that the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk changed the mood on Capitol Hill.
Kirk was shot in the neck while giving a speech at the Utah Valley University campus on Wednesday afternoon. He was the co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization with chapters nationwide.
Johnson joined CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "The Source" to discuss the aftermath of Kirk's killing.
"I think there is a recognition, some are saying more quietly, others more loudly, that the level of vitriol that is there now, the level of hatred that is fomented, there's a time that we gotta turn the volume down."
"There's a lot of people who find pleasure in stoking that fire, and it's dangerous," he continued. "There are derranged people in society, and if they are encouraged along this way, they will do dangerous things."
Johnson added that Kirk's murder changed the "mood" in Congress.
There's been a "deluge of calls" for additional safety measures from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, he said.
"These are the new realities," he added.
