Initial expressions of grief and shock were overtaken by open calls for reckoning and vengeance, as some proclaimed the country was on the brink of civil war.

© Kim Raff for The New York Times

Some politicians called for prayers, while some others immediately cast blame.

© Tess Crowley/The Deseret News, via Associated Press

Security footage capturing the unprovoked stabbing in Charlotte became an accelerant for conservative arguments about the perceived failings of Democratic policies.