Seth Meyers will open Thursday night’s Late Night with Seth Meyers with a solemn statement addressing the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the broader rise in political violence across the country.

NBC shared an advance clip of the remarks ahead of the broadcast this evening, showing Meyers seated at his desk and speaking directly to the camera. “Good evening everybody. I’m Seth Meyers. This is Late Night,” Meyers began. “We want to start off tonight by saying that, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered yesterday at a college event in Utah. We are horrified by this grotesque tragedy, and our condolences go out to his family and loved ones.”

Meyers stressed that mourning Kirk’s death should not be seen through a partisan lens: “It should never be a matter of political ideology to mourn and to extend our fullest and deepest empathy to those who are suffering. Political violence is abhorrent and anathema to the highest ideals of this country. It corrodes us and threatens the very foundations of our democracy.”

He urged viewers to recommit to peaceful engagement: “The great promise of our democratic experiment is that we can engage with one another and resolve our differences through dialogue, not violence. We must hold true to that promise and strive toward it with our fullest effort, even when it feels furthest away.”

Meyers then broadened his remarks to address gun violence in America, noting that “there have already been over 300 mass shootings and 47 school shootings this year alone.” He added, “We’ve said this many times in this program, and we’ll say it again. Gun violence is a plague in this country. We desperately need reasonable gun safety laws to stop this epidemic of tragedy and pain.”

The host placed Kirk’s killing in a grim timeline of recent politically motivated attacks, citing incidents from the Charlottesville terror attack in 2017 to the January 6 insurrection, to assassination attempts against public figures including Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. “Sadly, I could go on,” Meyers said. “This rising tide of political violence will only lead to a darker and more dangerous place, and it must end.”

He concluded with a call for leadership: “It is the responsibility of all public figures to marshal their dignity and compassion, and lead us to a calmer, more rational place. This effort cannot be one sided, and it must start at the top. A Dartmouth study last year found that the vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum reject and abhor political violence. They’re waiting for their leaders to join them.”

Meyers’ comments came a day after Stephen Colbert opened The Late Show by offering condolences to Kirk’s family and condemning political violence, warning that it “only leads to more political violence.”