This liveblog is now closing. You can read our latest coverage of Charlie Kirk’s killing here.
Erika Kirk, widow of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, gave a combative speech saying her late husband’s message and mission will be “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever” and that her “cries will echo around the world like a battle cry”. A tour of college campuses by his hard-right youth organization Turning Point USA would continue, she said, in her first public statement since her husband’s killing. She urged students to start Turning Point USA chapters at their schools.
Authorities announced on Friday that they had arrested a suspect in connection Charlie Kirk’s killing at a speaking event at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday. Tyler Robinson, 22, is now in custody at Utah County Jail.
Robinson’s family friend turned him in, and told officers that Robinson “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident”, governor Spencer Cox told a press conference. A family member that investigators interviewed described Robinson as becoming “more political in recent years” and was aware that Kirk was due to speak at UVU, said Cox.
The weapon used was identified as a high-action bolt rifle, and Cox noted that several bullet casings were found at the scene of the crime. One of three unfired casings read “Hey fascist! Catch!”, a second read “Oh Bella Ciao” (which is the name of an anti-fascist Italian anthem), and a third casing had the following engraved: “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO”.
Jeff Gray, the Utah county attorney, plans to file formal charges against Tyler Robinson on Tuesday, his office said. According to court records obtained by CNN, Robinson is being held without bail on several initial charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
A Utah Valley University spokesperson confirmed today that Robinson is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. He also briefly attended Utah State University.
Donald Trump told Fox & Friends in an interview – during which he also announced that a suspect was in custody – that he hoped the shooter “gets the death penalty”. He declined to call for the US to come together as a way of fixing the country’s divisions, instead casting “vicious and horrible” radicals on the left of US politics as the sole problem.
The killing of Charlie Kirk is being used to mobilise support before what is expected to be Britain’s largest far-right rally in decades, which will include speakers from Britain, the US and Europe. The rally is expected to attract upwards of 40,000 attenders, according to the anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate. A smaller gathering organised by the group Stand Up to Racism is also taking place.
The killing of Charlie Kirk is being used to mobilise support before what is expected to be Britain’s largest far-right rally in decades, which will include speakers from Britain, the US and Europe.
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, is among those listed to appear on stage at the rally in central London, which is expected to draw tens of thousands for an event that Robinson has been heavily attempting to monetise.
Other planned speakers include Ant Middleton, a former UK special forces soldier who has increasingly used far-right rhetoric, as well as an MP for Germany’s far-right AfD party and a far-right Polish MEP.
Other Americans making the trip include Joey Mannarino, a self-styled US rightwing commentator who said: “All rape cases have just become fake to me” after a civil case alleging sexual assault by Trump.
The rally is expected to attract upwards of 40,000 attenders, according to the anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate. A smaller gathering organised by the group Stand Up to Racism is also taking place.
Summary
Erika Kirk, widow of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, gave a combative speech saying her late husband’s message and mission will be “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever” and that her “cries will echo around the world like a battle cry”. A tour of college campuses by his hard-right youth organization Turning Point USA would continue, she said, in her first public statement since her husband’s killing. She urged students to start Turning Point USA chapters at their schools.
Authorities announced on Friday that they had arrested a suspect in connection Charlie Kirk’s killing at a speaking event at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday. Tyler Robinson, 22, is now in custody at Utah County Jail.
Robinson’s family friend turned him in, and told officers that Robinson “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident”, governor Spencer Cox told a press conference. A family member that investigators interviewed described Robinson as becoming “more political in recent years” and was aware that Kirk was due to speak at UVU, said Cox.
The weapon used was identified as a high-action bolt rifle, and Cox noted that several bullet casings were found at the scene of the crime. One of three unfired casings read “Hey fascist! Catch!”, a second read “Oh Bella Ciao” (which is the name of an anti-fascist Italian anthem), and a third casing had the following engraved: “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO”.
Jeff Gray, the Utah county attorney, plans to file formal charges against Tyler Robinson on Tuesday, his office said. According to court records obtained by CNN, Robinson is being held without bail on several initial charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
A Utah Valley University spokesperson confirmed today that Robinson is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. He also briefly attended Utah State University.
Donald Trump told Fox & Friends in an interview – during which he also announced that a suspect was in custody – that he hoped the shooter “gets the death penalty”. He declined to call for the US to come together as a way of fixing the country’s divisions, instead casting “vicious and horrible” radicals on the left of US politics as the sole problem.
Here is the Guardian’s write up of the statement given earlier by Erika Kirk, the widow of rightwing activist and provocateur Charlie Kirk, in which she said her late husband’s message and mission will be “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever” and that her “cries will echo around the world like a battle cry”.
“I loved knowing one of his mottos was ‘never surrender’,” she said of her late husband. “We’ll never surrender.”
Student who pressed Charlie Kirk on mass shootings before he was shot expresses grief on TikTok
When Hunter Kozak, a mathematics student at Utah Valley University, approached the mic to challenge Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, minutes before the fatal shooting of the conservative activist, the words “Prove me wrong” were emblazoned on the tent above the Turning Point USA founder.
Kozak was sure that he could do just that, having done quite a lot of research to debunk Kirk’s recent claim that transgender Americans were responsible for a disproportionate amount of mass shootings.
As Kozak had explained in a recent video on his TikTok channel, his statistical analysis shows that the opposite is true, and he was in the middle of explaining to Kirk that just five of the 6,000 mass shootings in the past decade have been carried out by transgender people when the gunman opened fire.
After the shooting, Kozak said in an emotional TikTok video that he was overwhelmed with grief and denounced people who might have welcomed the killing of the far-right activist.
“First off, you sick, fucking psychos that think this is the answer: it’s not. I don’t know what else to say. It’s fucking not. It’s awful,” Kozak said. “It’s a tragedy.”
I was talking to Charlie as he died. I made a video about it here. I hope his family and loved ones are safe ❤️ pic.twitter.com/taJiyrcXot
— hunter 🧦🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@staxioms) September 11, 2025
“People have obviously pointed to the irony that, the point that I was trying to make is how peaceful the left was, right before he got shot, and that only makes sense if we stay peaceful,” he added.
“I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was, conversation,” Kozak said. “And if you’re salivating about what happened: don’t. I don’t know if any of my audience is, but if you are, you’re not part of what I’m trying to build here, at all.”
Kozak’s response was significantly more empathetic than that of a conservative TikToker, who goes by the handle ElderTikTok. That fan of Kirk, who was in line to ask a question, recorded a live report from the scene of the shooting, as people fled around him, in which he conveyed the news while simultaneously urging viewers to follow him on the platform. He later deleted that video, and issued an apology in which he pledged to be “a better content creator”.
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Trial of Tyler Robinson in Utah state court will probably be televised – report
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah resident, suspected fatally shooting killed far-right activist Charlie Kirk, is expected to be formally charged with murder next week in a Utah state court.
The fact that charges will be brought by the state, and not the federal government, also means the trial is likely to be televised, a legal expert tells Politico.
“Utah has one of the best cameras-in-the-courtroom rules in the country,” Jeff Hunt, a media lawyer, said. “There’s a presumption of electronic media coverage in our trial courts.”
Since Kirk, for all his importance to the current presidential administration, was not a federal official and was not killed on federal property, there appears to be no reason for federal charges to be filed.
Had Kirk’s suspected killer targeted him for his faith or race, federal prosecutors might have had an opening to charge the murder as a hate crime under federal law, but the suspect, like Kirk, is a white man from a Christian family.
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'No one will ever forget my husband's name and I will make sure of it', Erika Kirk says
In what Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA described as his widow Erika Kirk’s “address to the nation”, the late conservative activist’s wife pledged to carry out his mission, urged young people to join his organization and called for a revival of Christian faith.
She told “the evil-doers responsible for my husband’s assassination”, that “if you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world”.
“You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry,” she said. “The movement my husband built will not die.”
Kirk’s scheduled campus tour, and a conference scheduled for December, AmericaFest, “will go on” she said, as will his radio and podcast show.
“His wisdom will endure,” she said.
Kirk also urged young people to join Turning Point USA chapters around the country.
“If there isn’t a chapter, if you can’t find one, then start one,” she said.
She reiterated what she said was his constant refrain: “If you want to get involved, go to TPUSA.com”
Her address was also a plea for young Americans to embrace the Christian faith and join what she called “a Bible-believing church”.
“Now and for all eternity he will stand at his savior’s side,” she said of her husband, “wearing the glorious crown of a martyr”.
She also quoted what she called one of his favorite Bible verses: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her.”
The struggle her husband was committed to, and she intends to continue, she said, was not just political, but “above all it is spiritual”.
“Spiritual warfare is palpable,” she said.
“I know my husband is still here,” she said “he’s watching over us.”
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'Mr President, my husband loved you', Erika Kirk says in address
Erika Kirk, the widow of the conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday, just began her address from a podium next to his desk on the set of his show.
Clearly struggling with emotion, and whispering at times, she began by thanking law enforcement and emergency services for their efforts to save her husband.
She went on to thank the other leaders at Turning Point USA, the political youth organization her husband created.
She then praised JD Vance, the vice-president, and his wife, Usha, for bringing his body back to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two.
Addressing Donald Trump, she said: “Mr President, my husband loved you and he knew that you loved him too. Your friendship was amazing.”
Erika Kirk went on to stress her husband’s Christian faith, noted his faith-driven belief in marriage and said that her husband told her “if he ever ran for office” he intended to make it his top priority “to revive the American family”.
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Erika Kirk, widow of murdered conservative activist, to speak soon
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, is expected to make a statement shortly, at 8.15pm ET.
The remarks, her first public statement since the killing of her husband, will be streamed live on Turning Point USA’s YouTube channel, and we will bring them to you here.
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Secret Service agent reportedly put on leave over Facebook comment that Charlie Kirk 'spewed hate and racism'
The Secret Service, the agency that provides security to the president, the vice-president and visiting foreign officials, has reportedly suspended an agent who posted a critical comment about the conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Facebook.
According to a screenshot posted online by a conservative reporter for Real Clear Politics, after Kirk was killed, the agent, Anthony Pough, shared video of Kirk’s infamous comment, in 2023, that a Black congresswoman did not have “the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously” and “had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously”.
Above the video, the agent wrote to his Facebook friends that anyone “mourning this guy” should unfollow him on the social network. “He spewed hate and racism on his show.”
“At the end of the day, you answer to GOD and speak things into existence,” he added. “You can only circumvent karma, she doesn’t leave.”
In response to the Real Clear Politics report, Marsha Blackburn, a Republican senator from Tennessee, wrote the director of the Secret Service demanding that the agent be fired for what she called his celebration and attempt to justify Kirk’s assassination.
“This employee was immediately put on administrative leave, and an investigation has begun,” the Secret Service said in a statement to CNN and other news outlets on Friday.
Susan Crabtree, the reporter who first discovered the agent’s post also shared screenshots of other posts, including one in which the agent called Pete Hegseth’s decision to fire the Black air force general CQ Brown Jr as chair of the joint chiefs of staff “racism.” Three months before Hegseth took office, he had told a podcaster the next defense secretary had to “fire the chairman of the joint chiefs” because any general “that was involved in any of that DEI woke shit has got to go.”
Another post from Pough shared by Crabtree mocked Donald Trump for refusing to rule out a recession in 2025.
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Editor’s note: This article was updated on 12 September 2025 to remove quotes after the verified source who attended high school with Tyler Robinson said after publication that they could not accurately remember details of their relationship.
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Utah county attorney plans to file formal charges against Tyler Robinson on Tuesday
Jeff Gray, the Utah county attorney, plans to file formal charges against Tyler Robinson on Tuesday, his office said.
Gray’s office “is carefully reviewing all the evidence in this case to determine the appropriate charges to file”, his chief of staff said.
Gray plans to describe the charges at a news conference at noon local time on Tuesday.
If charges are filed on Tuesday, Robinson’s first appearance would be a virtual hearing at 3pm mountain time that day.
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Pentagon to punish service members who mock Charlie Kirk's death on social media – report
Pete Hegseth, the former Fox weekend anchor serving as Donald Trump’s defense secretary, has ordered Pentagon officials to scour social media for comments by service members that make light of Charlie Kirk’s death and punish anyone expressing dissident views, NBC News reports.
Several service members have been relieved of their jobs already, Pentagon officials told the broadcaster.
The purge comes after Hegseth, his spokesperson and the secretaries of the army, navy and air force all warned service members to express only the correct political opinions about Kirk and his killing.
The officials warned service members, and civilian employees of the Pentagon that “inappropriate comments” including “posts displaying contempt toward” Kirk, or comments that “celebrate or mock the assassination” would be “dealt with swiftly and decisively”.
The effort to root out dissidents in the ranks comes as online activists promised to get Kirk’s critics fired in a range of fields, including the military and academia.
Updated
in Washington, Utah
Roy Corey, retired and in his 70s, was watering his marigolds on Friday morning in a neighborhood not far from the family home of Tyler Robinson, who was arrested in connection with the killing of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and influencer.
Corey moved to Utah and feels at home there because his wife and him are “patriots and Christians”. He has no relation to the Robinsons, but has been fielding visits all day – from local law enforcement, reporters and two people who said they were with a collections agency – because he lives in a house formerly owned by a Robinson relative.
Corey seemed amused by the coincidence, but saddened by Kirk’s death. He sees it as part of a broader pattern.
“Regardless of if Charlie got shot or not, it’s increasing,” Corey said.
Updated
in Washington, Utah
Miles Meloni, 14, lives in the same neighborhood as the Robinsons. Meloni followed Kirk, and feels “great sorrow” for the Robinson and Kirk families.
Meloni is alarmed by political violence in the country he is coming of age in.
“I want to see a change,” Meloni said. “I think for people like this, if the family sees any progression towards this view, that they need to hurt people, that they need to have their child, family member, friends, anybody, seek help.”
He hopes this doesn’t skew people’s perception of the state he calls home.
“It’s just not something you think would happen here,” Meloni said. “Don’t let this taint your view on Utah.”
Updated
Suspect's high school classmate says Robinson was the only 'leftist' in a family of 'very hard' Republicans
Editor’s note: This article was updated on 12 September 2025 to remove quotes after the verified source who attended high school with Tyler Robinson said after publication that they could not accurately remember details of their relationship.
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Casing inscriptions suggest possible link to video game – report
The Verge has been reporting on the engravings of several bullet casings found by the shooter’s weapon at Utah Valley University.
They report that that one of them, which reads “Hey fascist! Catch!” – followed by up arrow, right arrow and three down arrow symbols – is noteworthy because it’s the “combination sequence for calling the Eagle 500kg Bomb stratagem” in the video game Helldivers 2.
The third-person shooter game features soldiers who are tasked with trying to fight alien-like creatures that have taken over in the name of “democracy”.
References to “O Bella Ciao” (another engraving on one of the bullet casings) is referenced in the video game too.
As of now, law enforcement officials have not confirmed this link.
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Representative Luna says Congress is 'watching' universities' response to videos about Charlie Kirk's murder
Republican lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna, of Florida, has warned colleges and universities across the US that Congress is “watching closely” to see which institutions take “the right action by firing professors who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk or circulated videos glorifying his assassination”.
The Maga firebrand, and Trump loyalist, also said that that “any university that refuses to do the right thing will be cut off from all federal funding”.
in Washington, Utah
The sunny, winding streets near the Robinson residence were already crowded on Thursday morning with law enforcement vehicles, marked and unmarked, as well as a neat row of media cameras.
The quiet neighborhood is like many others in the sun-baked city of 35,000, which lies in the middle of the red rock and sagebrush mesas of the Utah/Arizona borderlands.
Melissa Tait, 55, and a mother of four, lives just down the street from the Robinson house, and said they were “just like any other neighbor”, and that they were “no different than my family”.
Tait expressed sympathy for the family, and gratitude that they turned their son in.
“Unfortunately, their son made a really bad decision,” Tait said.
One neighbor who lives across the street from the Robinsons, declined to be named. He said he’s “blind to the world”, and only learned about Robinson’s arrest when he saw reporters and law enforcement in the street this morning.
He was agnostic about the massive media presence on his street. “Mother nature is mother nature, whatever she calls to do, let’s do it,” he said.
And was similarly accepting when asked about Robinson, the subject of a massive 48-hour search, living just across the street.
“If it’s close to home, if it’s 50 miles from me, it’s the same damn thing,” he said. “Shit happens and that’s what it is.”
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Discord says they have 'no evidence' that lead suspect used messaging app to plan Kirk shooting
Earlier today, Utah governor Spencer Cox said that investigators found several messages they believe Tyler Robinson sent via Discord – the messaging app frequently used by gamers – about the shooting at Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot.
Officials said that Robinson’s roommate showed them the messages.
Cox said that the contact, named ‘Tyler’ discussed the following details on the app:
A need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point.
Leaving the rifle in a bush.
Messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left.
A message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.
A message that referred to engraving bullets, and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique.
Messages from Robinson which also mentioned that he had changed outfits.
A Discord spokesperson told the Guardian that throughout the course of their own investigation they found an account associated with the suspect. However, they “have found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord”.
The spokesperson added that:
The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages. These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.
Discord said they have removed the suspect’s account and “will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement”, expressing sympathy to the Kirk family and all those affected.
Mourners honor Charlie Kirk at vigil in London
In London, dozens have gathered on Whitehall – the heart of the UK government – to hold a vigil in Kirk’s memory.
People wore Union flags, as well as Make America Great Again hats. And one flew a flag depicting Donald Trump and bearing the words “fight fight fight”.
Attached to railings near the statue of Field Marshall Montgomery was a large union flag that bore the words: “Psalm 125:3: For the scepter of wickedness will not rest on the land allotted the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.”
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in Washington, Utah
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old lead suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing, has a family residence in Washington, Utah, according public records - a small city located not far from the Arizona border and about 260 miles from where Kirk was killed in Orem.
Walter Williams, a neighbor who has lived in the same neighborhood as the family for four years, expressed surprise when he heard the news.
“I honestly didn’t know he lived here,” said Williams, 33, in an interview from the suburban streets of Washington. He called the neighborhood a “safe place”.
“Everybody knows each other, and takes care of each other,” he said.
Reflecting on America’s political division, Williams said that as a member of the Mormon church, he liked a lot of what Kirk said, but that he also respected everyone’s right to their own views.
“I know everybody has their own opinions, that’s totally fine. That’s what the US is about,” Williams said. “Having different opinions and not forcing that on each other, not taking it out on each other. We can have an open dialogue and respect each other for our own opinions because we’re all different and that’s the beauty of being human.”
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Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the organization which Charlie Kirk founded, has issued a statement following the arrest of a suspect in connection with Kirk’s murder.
“We are profoundly grateful to the men and women of law enforcement who worked with such urgency, dedication, and courage to bring this person to justice,” the statement reads. “Their commitment has brought an important step toward closure in this incredibly painful time.
TPUSA posted a video tribute to Kirk on their social media channels late Thursday, which included some of Kirk’s past appearances, and footage of his family –including his widow, Erika.
“I know a lot of you have seen, obviously, his videos on TikTok, and all the stuff he does on campus, but no one gets to see him from my angle, except for myself and our children,” Erika said at a past TPUSA event, featured in the video.
Updated
As we learn more about the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk, here's a recap of the day so far
After nearly two days of searching, authorities announced today that they have arrested a suspect in connection with the shooting and killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, at a speaking event at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday. Tyler Robinson, 22, is now in custody at Utah County Jail.
According to surveillance footage, authorities say that Robinson was seen arriving at the UVU campus on Wednesday in a Dodge Challenger.
FBI director Kash Patel said that Robinson was ultimately arrested in Washington County – which sits in the southwest corner of the state – at around 10pm local time on Thursday 11 September.
At a press conference earlier, governor Spencer Cox said that Robinson’s family friend turned him in, and told officers that Robinson “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident”. Cox also said that a family member that investigators interviewed described Robinson as becoming “more political in recent years” and was aware that Kirk was due to speak at UVU.
The weapon used was identified as a high-action bolt rifle, and Cox noted that several bullet casings were found at the scene of the crime. One of three unfired casings read “Hey fascist! Catch!”, a second read “Oh Bella Ciao” (which is the name of an anti-fascist Italian anthem), and a third casing had the following engraved: “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO”.
Robinson has not been formally charged yet. Officials today said they have three days to prepare those documents, which will likely be filed early next week. According to court records obtained by CNN, Robinson is being held without bail on several initial charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
A Utah Valley University spokesperson confirmed today that Robinson is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. He also briefly attended Utah State University.
Donald Trump was the first to break the news of the investigation’s development. He announced “with a high degree of certainty” that law enforcement had arrested a suspect in an interview with Fox News earlier today.
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Neighbor of suspect's family describes accused as 'respectful and quiet'
Kristin Schwiermann, 66, a neighbor of the Robinson family, told the Guardian that Robinson was “very respectful and quiet” and “had friends.”
“He was smart” she said, and “aced his ACTs and got a full ride at university.”
“He’s from a very loving family” she said. “I love his mother, and he’s just a hard working family.”
The news, she added, “shocked the crap out of me, because we live in a very nice neighborhood, a very quiet neighborhood, we all know each other, and this just really just shocked me.”
“I didn’t think he would have done this” she said.
Congresswoman Mace to introduce resolution to have Charlie Kirk lie in honor in US Capitol
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace said she will introduce a resolution “authorizing Charlie Kirk to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda” if his family “wish for him to be honored there”.
“He inspired millions, led countless souls to Christ, and never wavered in defense of the First Amendment. Such a legacy makes him uniquely worthy of this distinction,” she said.
A Utah Valley University spokesperson has confirmed that: “Tyler James Robinson is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. He briefly attended Utah State University (one semester in 2021) and received concurrent enrollment credit through Utah Tech University while in high school (2019-2021).”
The suspect is being held without bail in Utah County Jail on the orders of a state magistrate judge.
According to court records obtained by CNN, magistrate judge Shawn Rice Howell signed an order to hold Tyler Robinson this morning.
For today’s instalment of our First Edition newsletter, my colleague Aamna Mohdin asks what the killing of Charlie Kirk means for a polarised US amid a climate of rising political violence. (Sign up for First Edition here!)
For some, Charlie Kirk’s killing marks a watershed moment in the politics of the US, a country long defined by deep polarisation and periodic outbreaks of violence. Not so for Cas Mudde, a Dutch political scientist and leading expert on populism and the far right who is based at the University of Georgia.
“This is an incredibly violent country. Yesterday, there was a separate mass shooting in a school where three students were killed,” Mudde said, pointing out that more than 300 incidents have been recorded so far this year. “Just remember that Trump was almost killed when he was a candidate and it didn’t change anything.”
That of course might be different now – he’s far more equipped to make changes related to this shooting now he’s president than he was when he was running for office.
But Mudde believes the current climate around gun violence in the US means that real change might still be hard to come by. He compares the US to where he grew up, the Netherlands. In the latter, the rightwing politician Pim Fortuyn, who led his anti-immigration party to a position of prominence in the Netherlands, was assassinated in 2002.
“The assassination of Fortuyn transformed the Netherlands in many ways. It helped normalise the far right, made Fortuyn a martyr, and created an anti-left backlash,” Mudde said. “I don’t think that you will see the same effect here because it is just not so remarkable, sadly, that a prominent person is being assassinated.”
To his point, Reuters released an investigation in late 2024 identifying more than 300 cases of political violence in the US since the January 6 insurrection – the biggest increase in such threats since the 1970s – only now more bloody, targeting people rather than bricks and mortar. But little has changed by way of policy since then.
Will Kirk’s death change this? Mudde argued that the Trump administration will continue their unprecedented attack on democratic institutions and norms in the US (and would have done so had Kirk been killed or not). But just how far the administration is able to go remains unclear.
Many of the Trump administration’s most far-reaching orders have been halted by the lower level courts, but some have been pushed through by the rightwing supreme court. “We’re living in this weird period where there is still a functioning, if imperfect, democracy, but with an authoritarian leader,” Mudde said.
What is clear is that the struggle over America’s democratic future is far from over.
Court records indicate that the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has not been convicted of any crimes in the past.
DOJ may bring federal charges against suspect this afternoon - report
Federal prosecutors are evaluating possible charges they could bring against the suspect, two sources familiar with the matter have told CNN, and those charges could be filed by the justice department as soon as this afternoon.
Tyler Robinson is currently being held at the Utah County Jail on multiple initial state charges, including aggravated murder. It is unclear if any federal charges would be in addition to or replace state charges.
Donald Trump told Fox News this morning that he hopes the suspected shooter gets the death penalty. Utah governor Spencer Cox has also said that state officials will “pursue the death penalty” in this case.
The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk has punctuated the most sustained period of US political violence since the 1970s, Reuters notes.
The news agency has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts across the ideological spectrum since supporters of Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
The suspect is being held on multiple initial charges, an officer of the Utah County Jail told CNN this morning, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice.
Robinson has not been charged formally yet, and initial charging documents aren’t available at this time, other authorities in Utah told CNN. The offenses are all state charges, NBC News reported.
Utah governor Spencer Cox said this morning that the state will be working on formal charging documents in the coming days, which would include additional information on probable cause for a case.
Authorities have three days to file those documents in preparation for a preliminary court hearing, where Robinson would first go before a judge, likely “early next week”, the governor said.
Updated
Per my earlier post, investigators shared information about the engraved bullet casings found near the weapon used by the shooter. Notably, one of the casings was engraved with “Bella Ciao”.
This, as my colleagues have reported, is the name of an anti-fascist anthem sung annually in Italy to commemorate the end of Mussolini’s dictatorship and the end of the Nazi regime in Germany.
Here’s a bit more about the origins of the song, and how it’s been used recently.
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During the press conference, taking questions from reporters, Cox said that Kirk’s murder is a “watershed moment in American history”.
“Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history?,” he went on to say.
He compared this moment to the 1960s, and the political assassinations of the era, but instead we have videos of the killings circulating on social media.
“We have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery … this is not good for us,” Cox said.
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Before wrapping up the press conference, Cox told reporters about what comes next as they process Tyler Robinson, now the prime suspect in the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“We have three days for charging documents to be filed,” Cox said. “We’ll have more information, then more detailed information as those charging documents are filed in preparation for a preliminary hearing.”
Cox added that the county attorney would be working “very closely” with Charlie Kirk’s family throughout the process.
Cox notes that Robinson has been booked into the Utah County Jail, which sits less than hour south of Salt Lake City.
Cox confirms that a friend helped to deliver Robinson to police custody in Washington County – which is in the southwest corner of the state.
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Utah Governor believes that shooter acted alone, says investigation is ongoing
Spencer Cox just said that officials “do not have any information that would lead to any additional arrests”. He added that investigators believe the suspect acted alone but the investigation is ongoing.
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'You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage', Utah governor addresses younger generation
While addressing the press today, governor Spencer Cox addressed young people watching.
“You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option,” he said. “Words are not violence. Violence is violence.”
Notably, Cox did not mention anything about the prevalence of gun violence that younger generations face throughout the country.
“I want you to look at how Utahns reacted the last two nights. There was no rioting, there’s no looting, there were no cars set on fire. There’s no violence,” Cox added.
Cox added that the rifle found was determined to be a Mauser model 98, in 30-06 caliber, a type of bolt-action firearm, that had a scope mounted on top of it.
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A short while ago, Utah governor Spencer Cox said that investigators noted inscriptions on the shooter’s bullet casings.
One of three unfired casings read “Hey fascist! Catch!” followed by up arrow, right arrow and three down arrow symbols, a second read “Oh Bella Ciao”, and a third one was engraved with: “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO”.
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FBI director confirms that Robinson was taken into custody at 10pm on Thursday
Kash Patel, the FBI director, said that Robinson was taken into custody at 10pm local time on Thursday 11 September.
“That’s why we went so public, so fast, and we’re so transparent. We’re committed to that transparency,” Patel said, referring to the pictures and video that law enforcement shared with the public to help track down the suspect.
Cox added that investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who said that he had become “more political in recent years”.
“The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to September 10,” Cox said. “In the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU…the family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”
'We got him': Utah governor confirms Tyler Robinson as prime suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting
Utah governor Spencer Cox confirmed today that Tyler Robinson, 22, is the prime suspect in the murder of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Cox said that Robinson’s family friend turned him into authorities.
This friend “contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident,” Cox said.
The information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and senior investigators at Utah Valley University, Cox added.
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The press conference has begun. Governor Spencer Cox is about to speak.
The press conference in Utah with the FBI and local law enforcement is due to begin in four minutes.
After clinching the title of top conservative podcast in America (and second overall news podcast, according to Apple’s ranking) in March, Charlie Kirk said: “We’re not just talking. We’re activating a revolution.”
In the hours after his killing at age 31 on the first stop of a buzzy college campus tour, the rightwing activist’s words echoed through young conservative circles. Social media eulogies rolled in, with users reposting clips of Kirk with his wife and children. Parents of teens wrote on X of learning about Kirk’s death through their children. “My 17 year old is bumming. Told me he plays Charlie in the background on his computer when he’s on it,” the conservative radio host Jesse Kelly wrote on X. Another X user wrote about speaking to teens at a church youth group: “Everyone I talked to is so distraught and heartbroken at his passing.”
A key figure in Donald Trump’s success, Kirk galvanized college-aged conservatives who moved in a different ecosystem from traditional media. The decade or so between Kirk’s beginnings as a teen activist and the shooting saw the rise of Maga politics alongside the shake-up of the conventional media landscape, with Kirk playing a crucial role in both.
Adam Pennings, 25, is the executive director of Run Gen Z, a non-profit that supports young Republican candidates. “He’s always just been such an important part” of the young conservative party, Pennings said of Kirk. “He was everywhere.”
Read more below
We’re due to hear from FBI officials and the Utah Department of Public Safety at a press conference shortly. We’re told that there will be a five minute warning ahead of it starting.
We’ll bring you the latest lines as it gets underway.
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Suspect in Charlie Kirk killing identified as Tyler Robinson – reports
According to multiple reports, citing law enforcement sources, a suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been identified as Tyler Robinson, 22, who is local to Utah.
We’re due to hear from FBI director Kash Patel and Utah officials shortly. We’ll bring you the latest lines as we have them.
Trump just described some of his conversation with Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, yesterday.
“She’s devastated,” Trump said. The president encouraged Erika to continue making statements following Kirk’s death. “Turning Point is a real power…I think they’re going to rally around together.”
Suspect taken into custody on Thursday - report
The New York Times is reporting that a man was taken into custody on Thursday at 11pm MT (the local time zone in Utah), by Utah state and local police.
The Times cites a law enforcement official, who requested anonymity to talk about the case.
They add that, allegedly, the man in question was arrested near Zion National Park – which is hundreds of miles away from the Utah Valley University campus.
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FBI to hold press conference at 9am ET on Kirk Shooting
Brian Kilmeade, who is interviewing Donald Trump, just said on air that there will be a press conference at 9am ET with FBI director Kash Patel present.
Kilmeade goes on to say that he’s getting word that the shooter is “in custody, and he’s alive, and he was turned in by by a friends and family”. He didn’t elaborate on his sources.
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'I couldn't care less', Trump says about division within the country
The president, when asked about how we “fix the country” or “come back together” after Kirk’s shooting, says that he “couldn’t care less”.
“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. They don’t want to see crime, worried about the border,” Trump says. “The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy”.
Trump advocates for death penalty for Kirk shooter
In his interview with Fox News, Trump just said that he hopes the shooter “gets the death penalty”.
“Charlie Kirk was the finest person,” Trump added. “He didn’t deserve this”.
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Trump says National Guard troops to be deployed to Memphis
The president has just announced in his Fox News interview that he will be sending the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee.
He described the city as “deeply troubled” and vowed to “straighten that out”.
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Trump says that a “minister who was involved with law enforcement” allegedly recognized the shooter. Then, he said, the shooter’s father convinced his child to turn himself into the police.
“They have somebody that they think did it,” Trump adds.
We haven’t received confirmation from the FBI or Utah Department of Public Safety that they have a suspect in custody.
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Key event
Here is the clip of Trump making the announcement on Fox and Friends:
FOX NEWS ALERT: @POTUS says “with a high degree of certainty” that authorities have Charlie Kirk’s assassin in custody. pic.twitter.com/pXAwik0a0Z
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) September 12, 2025
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Trump says 'with a high degree of certainty', Kirk's shooter is in custody
The president is being interviewed by Fox News now. It’s a live taping at their studio in New York.
“I think we have him,” Trump just said, regarding Charlie Kirk’s shooter. “I think that with a high degree of certainty we have him in custody”.
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Opinion: Charlie Kirk’s shocking killing sets the stage for a dangerous federal crackdown
I disagreed with Charlie Kirk on pretty much everything, but his shocking and morally repugnant assassination is deeply concerning, and not just because it’s another example of the lethality of our politics. Kirk’s killing is also sending prominent conservatives on a warpath, setting the stage for a dangerous expansion of federal government repression.
Kirk was a social media megastar and the founder of Turning Point USA, the foremost rightwing youth organization in the country. His political positions were to the far-right, and his language was often combative, to say the least. He called Martin Luther King, Jr “awful” and said “we made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s”. He believed in the so-called great replacement theory, which asserts that elites are encouraging mass migration to undermine white people in western countries. “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” he wrote on X the day before he was killed. He also blamed “Jewish dollars” for funding “cultural Marxist ideas and supporters.”
Kirk said being “trans is a mental delusion”. He portrayed himself as a free speech champion while also running a “Professor Watchlist” against liberal professors. “Having an armed citizenry comes with a price,” he said, explaining his opposition to gun control. “I think it’s worth … [the] cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so we can have the second amendment.” And he also suggested a “patriot” should pay the bail of the rightwing conspiracy theorist who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, with a hammer, fracturing his skull.
So, yeah. I find a lot of what Kirk peddled to be reprehensible, but he should still be alive to say it. Obviously, no one should be killed for their views. In an open society, people like Kirk should be able to say what they want, just as I should have the right to say what I want. And that includes the right to criticize.
You can read the full opinion piece here:
How the Charlie Kirk shooting unfolded – in maps, videos and images
Here is an explainer on the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Here are some images coming to us via the wires.
Utah governor Spencer Cox has asked people to avoid speculation around the killing of Charlie Kirk.
“What we’re seeing is our adversaries want violence,” he said. “They have bots from Russia, China, all over the world, that are trying to instil disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to turn off these streams.”
A UK offshoot of Turning Point USA has said it has received death threats following the death of Charlie Kirk.
Jack Ross, the chief executive of Turning Point UK, told the BBC: “We are certainly worried in the UK, we’ve had death threats from people. We’ve had people suggesting that we should be targeted in the UK as sort of the British Charlie Kirks, and that’s quite depressing,” he said.
“We’ve had people say online and highlight: ‘Oh, by the way, there’s UK Turning Point, maybe somebody should go after them’. We’ve had people send us horrific abuse. We’ve had horrific images of Charlie sent to us with laughing emojis. And it’s really heartbreaking. The internet isn’t the real world, but it’s certainly concerning that these people are out there and hold these extremist views.”
He added: “It’s really sad to see all the abuse … and certainly from our point of view, say this has happened to a prominent left-wing activist, we wouldn’t be out cheering, we’d be offering our condolences and support.”
Kirk co-founded and was the chief executive of the youth right-wing organisation Turning Point USA.
Ross said of Kirk’s killing: “We’re shocked … horrified really. We’re heartbroken.”
He added: “We are rattled, and it’s so wrong that he was killed whilst reaching out to people. He genuinely believed in reaching across the political divide. He didn’t believe in violence.”
Turning Point UK will gather in Whitehall, London, on Friday evening to remember Kirk, PA Media reports.
Where does the US go after the Charlie Kirk shooting? - podcast
In this week’s Politics Weekly America podcast, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, about the increase in political violence in the country.
Virulent debater and clickbait savant: how Charlie Kirk pushed a new generation to the right
After clinching the title of top conservative podcast in America (and second overall news podcast, according to Apple’s ranking) in March, Charlie Kirk said: “We’re not just talking. We’re activating a revolution.”
In the hours after his killing at age 31 on the first stop of a buzzy college campus tour, the rightwing activist’s words echoed through young conservative circles. Social media eulogies rolled in, with users reposting clips of Kirk with his wife and children. Parents of teens wrote on X of learning about Kirk’s death through their children. “My 17 year old is bumming. Told me he plays Charlie in the background on his computer when he’s on it,” the conservative radio host Jesse Kelly wrote on X. Another X user wrote about speaking to teens at a church youth group: “Everyone I talked to is so distraught and heartbroken at his passing.”
A key figure in Donald Trump’s success, Kirk galvanized college-aged conservatives who moved in a different ecosystem from traditional media. The decade or so between Kirk’s beginnings as a teen activist and the shooting saw the rise of Maga politics alongside the shake-up of the conventional media landscape, with Kirk playing a crucial role in both.
You can read the full report here:
Here are some images coming to us via the wires.
The Guardian view on the killing of Charlie Kirk: a perilous moment that may lead to more
Democracy is the way that we have diverse societies that don’t kill each other, largely,” Lilliana Mason, a leading scholar of partisanship, observed recently. She added: “As soon as we stop believing in it, it disappears.” Dr Mason’s own research suggests that there is sharply rising tolerance of political violence. On Wednesday, it claimed one more victim.
The shocking killing of the co-founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, a hugely influential activist who rallied young people to Donald Trump’s cause and far-right ideology more broadly, has been widely and rightly condemned across the political spectrum. Leading Democrats and progressive activists made clear that such violence must not be tolerated.
Before a perpetrator had even been identified, the president, like several other Republicans, blamed “radical left political violence”, claiming that liberal rhetoric against conservatives was “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country”. Mr Trump himself faced two attempts on his life last year. He cited other victims, but not the many Democrats who have been targeted, including Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota state representative shot dead at her home alongside her husband, Mark, in June. Meanwhile, some far-right commentators spoke of vengeance.
Political violence is hardly a new phenomenon in a country that has seen a civil war, four presidential assassinations, and lynchings. But it is rising again. Ordinary Americans are being radicalised. In such an environment, one thing unites the political poles; any prominent figure is vulnerable, though women and people of colour are particularly targeted. Threats to members of Congress rocketed last year.
Read the full piece here:
A quiet Utah town reckons with Charlie Kirk’s shooting: ‘Nothing like this has happened here’
Orem, Utah, a sleepy suburb of roughly 100,000 people at the feet of the Wasatch mountains, never asked for the national spotlight, writes Cy Neff.
But in the wake of the killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk in front of a packed audience at a university in the heart of town, the weight of the nation’s gaze was inescapable. A forest of American flags planted atop a highway interpass next to Utah Valley University (UVU), where Kirk was shot. A campus on lockdown and makeshift memorials. The ubiquitous presence of local cops and FBI agents.
With the shock of Kirk’s death fresh and a manhunt for the shooter still under way, many in the community are coming to terms with the magnitude of what happened here, and are split on the legacy Kirk leaves behind.
“I’m sad and just shocked. Nothing like this has ever happened in Utah, to this extent,” said Brice Nokes, 27. On Thursday, Nokes was standing at the UVU campus entrance holding a sign that said “I believe in you” in bold capital letters. He took it to the university’s entrance today, hoping to help spread positivity in the wake of the killing.
Tanner Lundquist, 31, and a former UVU student who came back to campus on Thursday, said that his community was “not meant to be on the world stage”.
“For me it’s very disturbing to see a courtyard where I used to do homework on CNN, on Fox News,” Lundquist said.
Read the full report here:
Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’
Charlie Kirk, the far-right commentator and ally of Donald Trump, was killed on Wednesday doing what he was known for throughout his career – making incendiary and often racist and sexist comments to large audiences, writes Chris Stein and Dani Anguiano.
If it was current and controversial in US politics, chances are that Kirk was talking about it. On his podcasts, and on the podcasts of friends and adversaries, and especially on college campuses, where he would go to debate students, Kirk spent much of his adult life defending and articulating a worldview aligned with Trump and the Maga movement. Accountable to no one but his audience, he did not shy away in his rhetoric from bigotry, intolerance, exclusion and stereotyping.
Here’s Kirk, in his own words. Many of his comments were documented by Media Matters for America, a progressive non-profit that tracks conservative media.
On race
If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024
On debate
We record all of it so that we put [it] on the internet so people can see these ideas collide. When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.
– Kirk discussing his work in an undated clip that circulated on X after his killing.
On gender, feminism and reproductive rights
Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.
– Discussing news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement on The Charlie Kirk Show, 26 August 2025
Read the full report here:
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What we know so far
US officials have appealed for help from the public for information to help find the shooter, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack at a Utah university.
“We need as much help as we can possibly get,” Utah governor Spencer Cox told a news conference more than 24 hours after Kirk was shot while speaking in front of thousands of people. “We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Cox said, appearing alongside FBI director Kash Patel – who didn’t speak – and other officials. The FBI had received more than 7,000 leads and tips so far, he said.
Surveillance video newly released by authorities showed a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt running across a roof, climbing off the edge of the building and dropping to the ground. The suspect is believed to have fled into the local neighbourhood after firing the one shot and has not yet been identified.
Investigators said they had obtained clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they were yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing. The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person.
Donald Trump agreed with a suggestion from a conservative reporter that his supporters should not respond to Kirk’s death with violence, a day after the president blamed the “radical left” for the killing and pledged a wide-ranging response. Trump said Kirk – a close ally – had been “an advocate of nonviolence” and “that’s the way I’d like to see people respond”. He cited “big progress” in the investigation.
Cox pledged to pursue the death penalty once the killer was found, also saying there was “a tremendous amount of disinformation” online.
Kirk’s casket arrived in his home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two, accompanied by vice-president JD Vance. Vance’s wife, Usha, stepped off the plane with Kirk’s widow, Erika. Vance helped carry Kirk’s casket with a group of uniformed service members as it was loaded on to the plane.
Oxford Union condemns president-elect’s reported comments on Charlie Kirk shooting
The Oxford Union has “unequivocally” condemned comments apparently made by its president-elect about the fatal shooting of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk in the US.
Kirk, 31, was killed at a Utah Valley University show on Wednesday in what authorities have called a political assassination.
George Abaraonye, who became president-elect of the debating society after a vote in June, posted comments in a WhatsApp group after his death, according to the Daily Telegraph.
One message was reported to have said “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s fucking go”, while another thought to have been posted on Abaraonye’s Instagram account read “Charlie Kirk got shot loool”.
In a statement on Thursday, the Oxford Union criticised the student’s comments and said it “firmly opposes all forms of political violence and strongly stands by our commitment to free speech and considerate debate”.
“The Oxford Union would like to unequivocally condemn the reported words and sentiments expressed by its president-elect, George Abaraonye, with regards to the passing of Charlie Kirk,” the society wrote on X. “His reported views do not represent the Oxford Union’s current leadership or committee’s view.
Read the full report here:
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Our graphics team has put together this map showing where Charlie Kirk was shot, and the reported location of the shooter.
In addition to the video, Utah officials have released the county dispatch audio on the moment police were alerted to the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
Kirk was speaking at a Utah Valley University event in Orem.
Kirk’s casket arrived in his home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two, accompanied by vice-president JD Vance. Vance’s wife, Usha, stepped off the plane with Kirk’s widow, Erika.
Vance helped carry Kirk’s casket with a group of uniformed service members as it was loaded on to the plane. Kirk’s conservative youth organisation, Turning Point USA, was based in Phoenix.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote on social media, referencing Kirk’s role in getting Donald Trump elected last year. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Trump, who said he would award the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Kirk, spoke to Kirk’s wife on Thursday.
He said that authorities were making “big progress” towards tracking down the suspect and that in regards to a motive, he has an “indication … but we’ll let you know about that later”.
New video of Kirk suspect released
US officials have issued an urgent appeal for help from the public as they continue to search for the shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack in Utah.
More than 24 hours after Kirk was shot while speaking in front of thousands of people at a Utah university, the state’s governor, appearing alongside FBI director Kash Patel and other officials, said “we need as much help as we can possibly get.”
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox said, adding that the FBI had received more than 7,000 leads and tips so far.
The newly released video showed a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt running across a roof, climbing off the edge of the building and dropping to the ground. The suspect is believed to have fled into the local neighbourhood after firing the one shot and has not yet been identified.
Investigators said they had obtained clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they were yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing.
The direct appeals for public support at the night-time news conference, appeared to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles to identify the shooter and pinpoint the person’s whereabouts. Authorities didn’t take questions, and Patel did not speak at the news conference. The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person.
The death of Kirk – a close ally of President Donald Trump – has drawn renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States which, in the last several years, has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation from political leaders.
In appealing for information, Cox said on Thursday, “there is a tremendous amount of disinformation” online.
“Our adversaries want violence,” Cox said. “We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instil disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams.”
Cox also pledged to find the killer and pursue the death penalty.
We will bring you the latest developments on this story throughout the day.
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