By Anthony Zurcher

Copyright bbc

He was an advocate of gun rights and conservative values, an outspoken critic of transgender rights, and a staunch, unapologetic Donald Trump supporter. His Turning Point US organisation played a key role in the voter turnout drive that saw the president return to the White House this year.

The tent where he was shot had “prove me wrong” emblazoned on it. He was a hero to young conservative students in particular, meeting them where they were and offering them a movement of their own.

Kirk’s killing is both another episode of shocking gun violence in America – and the latest in an ever-lengthening line of recent political violence.

Earlier this year two Democratic state legislators in Minnesota were shot in their homes – with one dying from her wounds. Last year, Donald Trump was twice the target of assassination attempts. His brush with a bullet at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, bears striking similarities to Wednesday’s shooting in Utah – both playing out before gathered crowds at outdoor venues.

Two years before that, a hammer-wielding assailant broke in to the home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a prominent Democrat. In 2017, a man opened fire on Republican congressmen practicing on a northern Virginia baseball field.

It is difficult to divine where American politics goes from here, but the trajectory is bleak.

Violence begets violence. Increasingly divisive rhetoric, fuelled by social media echo chambers and easy access to firearms, leads to raw nerves and a heightened potential for bloodshed.