Charlie Kirk's assassination and the state of political discourse: An FBI expert weighs in.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik picks up another congressional gig.

Good afternoon — it’s Thursday and Patriot Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Dan Clark is on vacation this week, but the Capitol Bureau team is doing our best to fill his shoes.

• Charlie Kirk’s shooting death on a Utah college campus Wednesday may drive more people to listen to his messages.

• U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik will co-chair a bipartisan congressional panel reviewing post-9/11 intelligence reforms.

Names in today’s CapCon: Eric O’Neill, Kathy Hochul, Curtis Sliwa, Charlie Kirk, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, Jeffree Star, Rudy Giuliani, George W. Bush, George Pataki, Donald J. Trump, Zohran Mamdani

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Charlie Kirk, 31, was a conservative activist with millions of followers. (Getty Images)

Charlie Kirk, a Christian with conservative values, was known for his willingness to debate issues.

“If someone from the left comes up to the mic, let’s treat them with respect. Let’s not interrupt, scowl or boo them. Show the left the respect that we don’t get on these college campuses.”

For millions of students who are followers of the Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA movement, which some have credited for helping get President Donald J. Trump reelected to a second term, those remarks that the 31-year-old Kirk often made before his events on college campuses were his mantra.

But following his assassination Wednesday by an apparently skilled gunman armed with a bolt-action rifle, who shot Kirk in the neck as he was delivering remarks at a Utah college campus, many people, including his followers, are trying to predict the fallout.

Capitol Confidential interviewed Eric O’Neill, who is an attorney and former FBI operative, to get his thoughts on the fatal shooting that has resonated around the world, in some cases deepening the nation’s political divide.

“Love him or hate him, Charlie Kirk … did stand for something, and that was the peaceful debate of issues and ideas,” said O’Neill, founder of The Georgetown Group. “And one thing that really worries me about where the trajectory of our country is going is that there seems to be a chilling effect on debating certain ideas over others. And I think what Charlie and many other people who are trying to sort of turn that on its head are doing is to try to say, ‘Look, we were founded on the open debate of ideas, the freedom of speech, the ability to say what matters to you.’”