The suspect who allegedly killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk targeted him for "spreading hate," police said while announcing the arrest Friday.
The latest: President Trump announced the arrest on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) identified the suspect, who he said confessed to the shooting.
- Authorities named Tyler Robinson as the alleged shooter. Investigators believe he acted alone and did not have information that would lead to additional arrests as of Friday morning.
- "I hope he gets the death penalty," Trump said earlier Friday when he shared that the suspect was in custody.
Zoom in: Trump said a minister with close ties to law enforcement communicated with the suspect's father to report him to authorities.
- Cox said he was not a student at Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
- According to police, the bullet casings were engraved with slogans like 'Hey, fascist! Catch!" and "If you read this, you are gay, lmao."
What they're saying: "Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years," Cox said. "The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to Sept. 10, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU."
- "They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate."
Driving the news: Trump's decision to share the development preempted law enforcement's timeline for publicizing the news, a senior administration official told Axios.
- "We've been at this since 1am," a senior administration official said. "We have someone in custody. We're 95% sure this is the killer."
- "This is the president's administration, so he has the right to say what he wants when he wants about it. And this is so personal to him. But yeah, we would've preferred a little more time before announcing. But it doesn't matter anyway. We're sure this is the guy."
The big picture: The arrest follows a widespread search that began soon after the influential MAGA podcaster and Turning Point USA cofounder was fatally shot Wednesday in Utah, setting off a nationwide period of mourning and a heated dispute about who's to blame for political violence.
- The FBI had offered a $100,000 reward and released photos of a person of interest in the case on Thursday, later releasing video footage of the shooting suspect fleeing the scene.
Inside the room: While administration officials won't second-guess Trump's early announcement, the same can't be said about FBI director Kash Patel. On Thursday, he announced that a different potential suspect was in custody, only to then backtrack and admit the person had to be released.
- "It might make the prosecution more difficult of the guy we have now," the official said.
What we're watching: As of Friday morning, investigators did not know how Robinson obtained the gun.
Catch up quick: Kirk was speaking in front of a crowd of about 3,000 on an outdoor plaza at Utah Valley University in the city of Orem when he was fatally shot.
- Police said he was struck by one shot the suspect fired from the roof of a building about 200 yards away before fleeing.
- A bolt-action rifle was later found near the campus.
Zoom out: Videos of Kirk's killing flooded social media in the aftermath. Trump said on Friday he heard they were "horrific" but chose not to watch them.
- "I didn't want to remember Charlie that way," he said.
Go deeper: America's digital morgue
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional comments from Trump's interview and a press conference in Orem.
