Looking to calm the roiling national waters, the top Republican in the Massachusetts House of Representatives hoped a simple gesture would go a long way: A moment of silence for the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

And so, for a minute on Monday, the handful of lawmakers who were on hand to see it did just that: They paused the operations of the state, put aside their differences, and honored the 31-year-old, who was fatally shot on the campus of Utah State University last week.

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