> what retribution measures his death will be the justification for

To be fair, crazy people will justify their craziness with anything. The problem is less what this may be used to justify and more that it creates a more-permissive environment for further political violence.

But it also moves the line for what can be sold as an appropriate reaction that may not look unquestionably crazy on the surface:

> And more may be to come: some GOP lawmakers and officials are signaling their readiness to punish people for their speech. Conservative activists are collecting and publicizing social media posts and profiles that they say "celebrated" his death and are calling for them to lose their jobs.

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/13/nx-s1-5538476/charlie-kirk-jo...

The McCarthy period, as comparison, lasted much too long and claimed many victims before it was discredited as immorally crazy.