Authorities have apprehended a suspect in the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Donald Trump announced Friday morning during an appearance on Fox News that “they have the person they wanted,” and that he just heard about it “five minutes before I walked in.”
NBC News and CNN also reported Friday morning that a suspect is in custody. NBC News reported that a family member saw the photos the FBI released of a person of interest and turned him in, citing two senior law enforcement officials, with CNN noting that the suspect confessed to his father, and that his father told authorities he was holding his son until they could come retrieve him.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox held a press conference later Friday morning, in which he identified the suspect as 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” Cox said, before telling reporters that he “can’t answer” whether Robinson discussed a motive.
The FBI had been on a manhunt for the gunman since Kirk’s shocking assassination Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities announced on Thursday that they had recovered a “high-powered bolt-action rifle” they believe was used in the shooting. “The rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled, and the FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Robert Bohls told reporters. Bohls added that the investigators also “collected [a] footwear impression,” as well as “a palm print and forearms imprints.”
The FBI posted images of a “person of interest,” asking for the public’s help identifying the individual, and offered up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for Kirk’s killing.
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The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that investigators found “expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology” on ammunition inside the recovered rifle, citing internal law-enforcement bulletin and another source familiar, but The New York Times reported later that the bulletin had not been verified by analysts and did not match other summaries of the evidence.
Cox on Friday addressed the speculation about the writing on the bullet casings: “Inscriptions on a fired casing read ‘notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this, question mark.’ Inscriptions on the unfired casings read, ‘Hey fascist! Catch!’ up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols. A second unfired casing read, ‘O, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella biao, ciao, ciao,’ and a third unfired casing read, ‘If you read this, you are gay, LMAO.’
Kirk was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University when he was hit with a single bullet before being rushed to a hospital. Videos show an individual on the roof of a building around 150 yards away, which the university identified as the shooter’s location, per The New York Times. Kirk was reported to be in critical condition before Trump announced his death on Truth Social around two hours after he was shot, after which it was confirmed by one of Kirk’s spokespeople.
Two persons of interest were taken into custody before being released on Wednesday, with FBI Director Kash Patel claiming on X that the “subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” before later noting that the “subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”
Patel ousted the chief of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office just weeks before Kirk’s assassination.
On Thursday night, Patel shared an X post by the FBI Salt Lake City that announced it was “releasing video of the shooter who murdered Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.” The post included a link to a video described as showing an individual who is “seen jumping from the rooftop of a building after the shooting.”
Patel appeared alongside Cox at the press conference on Friday. “To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I’ll see you at Valhalla,” the FBI director said.
Trump, who announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social, said Thursday morning that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Charlie was a giant of his generation and a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president said while speaking at a 9/11 memorial event. Trump wrote on Wednesday that he was “ordering all American Flags throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast until Sunday evening at 6 P.M.,” and went on to deliver an address from the Oval Office in which he blamed Kirk’s death on the “radical left.” Several Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators have made similar accusations, despite the lack of information about the shooter or a potential motive.
Cox, during the press conference on Friday, spoke about the need to take down the temperature.
“Social media is a cancer on our society right now, and I would urge people to log off, turn off, and touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community,” he said, noting that he has a friend who told him Republicans and Democrats are getting together in his town to have a discussion. “This is our moment,” Cox said. “Do we escalate, or do we find an off ramp?”
From Rolling Stone US
