Justice Barrett urges students to ‘take the high road like Erika Kirk’ in face of campus hostility

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered powerful public remarks about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Thursday night, praising the “grace and strength” she said was espoused by Kirk’s wife, Erika, in the days after his killing.

Barrett, who spoke on stage during the Federalist Society’s annual National Lawyers Convention dinner, said she was particularly struck by Erika Kirk’s act of forgiving her husband’s killer.

“Fighting poison with poison doesn’t work,” she said, and “leads to more poison.” 

She urged students to “take the high road like Erika Kirk and show grace and strength in the face of hatred.”

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Barrett, who sat on stage next to Justice Brett Kavanaugh as they addressed hundreds of lawyers and law students attending the dinner, said one of the “most moving things” was Erika Kirk “forgiving her husband’s murderer.” 

Her remarks came in response to a question from a student about how conservatives should navigate campus politics in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was killed while speaking onstage at a university in Utah.

“I think that when you see the poison, when you see the anger, when you see the backlash that led to Charlie Kirk’s murder, I think meeting it with strength and grace, not cowering, not saying, ‘I’m going to be silent.’ I think you still say what you’re going to say,” Barrett said.

Students previously spoke to Fox News Digital about his death, which sent shockwaves across the U.S., and especially on college campuses, where administrators and students alike cited increased fears of an uptick in violence.

Federalist Society presidents and other young conservatives interviewed said they were worried about their own safety and had fears of a broader chilling effect if they were to avoid hosting controversial speakers or events that invite spirited debate.

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“I think that’s something that struck us all deeply,” David Haungs, who leads the Federalist Society chapter at Yale, said. “The threat of political violence — especially against conservatives in law school, and college campuses — it’s something that’s very troubling to have in the back of your mind.”

Kavanaugh addressed a broader threat landscape in which judges and political figures across the ideological spectrum have been inundated with death threats, which sometimes have led to criminal prosecutions. A person was sentenced last month to eight years in prison for attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh in the weeks preceding the landmark Dobbs decision. The defendant traveled across the country and showed up armed at the justice’s house before self-reporting to police.

Kavanaugh said he has looked to the Catholic hymn “Be Not Afraid” for inspiration.

“I think about that, the principle of ‘being not afraid,’ to make the right decision,” he told the audience. 

“Be not afraid to stand up for your principles. Be not afraid to resist peer pressure. Be not afraid to pursue what you know is right, even when you’re going to get criticized for it,” he said.

“I think about those words a lot going through life.”

Their discussion was part of the Federalist Society’s Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner, and was moderated by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee.

Their colleague, Samuel Alito, was also in attendance, as was Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.