A new Gallup poll found that Americans’ concerns about crime are at the highest level since 2020, with Republican concerns growing the sharpest in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah.

The monthly poll, released Monday, said the number of people mentioning crimes or violence as the “most important problem facing this country” grew from 3% in August to 8% in September.

Gallup said that’s the highest percentage for that answer since August 2020, when the nation witnessed riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake. That came two months after the U.S. endured social unrest following a police officer killing George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Republican respondents saw the largest increase in those concerned about crime or violence, with 14% of conservatives saying it was the most important issue in September compared with 6% saying so in August.

Kirk’s killing on Sept. 10 — when a gunman shot and killed the activist in front of a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University — is perhaps the main reason Republican fears about crime more than doubled.

Kirk became famous for debating liberal college students from coast to coast and helped swing young men in favor of President Trump during last year’s election.

Kirk was also a confidant of several members of his Cabinet and Vice President J.D. Vance.

As for topics, Kirk was outspoken against transgender rights, often enraging his left-wing opponents.

Charging documents against Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of killing Kirk, said he had been following left-wing ideology and shot Kirk out of hatred for the 31-year-old’s conservative views.

Other high-profile crimes, such as last month’s Catholic church shooting in Minneapolis and the deadly stabbing of a Ukrainian war refugee in Charlotte, North Carolina, likely triggered heightened crime anxiety among Republicans.

The Minneapolis church shooter was transgender and wrote phrases such as “kill Donald Trump” on gun magazines.

The man charged with killing the Ukrainian refugee is an ex-convict with a violent past and multiple arrests, yet was allowed to roam free due to what conservative lawmakers blame on weak bail policies.

Gallup conducted the telephone-interview survey Sept. 2 to 16 among 1,000 adults in the U.S. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.