DeSantis, college leaders say debate on campuses needs to be protected after activist’s murder

Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida university leaders are speaking out about the importance of protecting the right to civil, and free debate on college campuses.

Their comments come a day after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college campus.

DeSantis said he knew Kirk, who was gunned down at a debate with students at the Utah Valley University on Wednesday, and was mourning his loss.

The governor said on the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, it’s important to remember the values we stand for as a nation. One of those is free and civil discourse on college campuses, which he says needs to be protected now more than ever, after Kirk’s murder.

“He always wanted to have a free exchange of ideas, and the response to that, if you don't like it, is not to shout or scream someone down. It's not to create unrest so that the mob makes the event not happen. And it is certainly not that you kill somebody in order to silence them,” said DeSantis.

Watch the governor's full remarks here:

Tim Cerio is a member of the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s university system. At the board’s meeting Thursday, he echoed DeSantis, saying despite increasing political violence and division, it’s not the time to back down on free speech on college campuses.

“We need to still rededicate ourselves and redouble our efforts to encouraging free speech and civil discourse on our campuses, and as you bring speakers in, as your students gather, we need to do what we can to encourage that, but also protect our students and faculty and staff and guests on our campus. But we're not going to stop doing what we're doing,” said Cerio.

Along with DeSantis and Cerio, political leaders across the state, and on both sides of the aisle, have been condemning Kirk’s murder.

Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost called Kirk’s murder “nothing short of horrific.”

Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott echoed his sentiments saying he was heartbroken by Kirk’s murder.

Kirk’s murder came on the same day as a mass shooting at a Colorado-area high school, and weeks after a mass shooting at a Catholic grade school in Minnesota.

Kirk, who was 31 when he died, leaves behind a wife, and two young children. As ordered by President Donald Trump, flags are currently at half-staff around the country, and will continue to be through September 14 in memory of Kirk.

A vigil for Kirk, organized by Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, is being held in downtown Tavares tonight in front of the historic Lake County Courthouse.