After a nearly two-day manhunt: Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah, told his father that he was the young man who shot the pro-Israeli right-wing activist - and the father turned him in. In an interview with"Fox News," Trump revealed that a suspect had been arrested: "I think we have the man. I hope he gets the death penalty."
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United States President Donald Trump revealed in a television interview today (Friday) that authorities have arrested a suspect in the murder of a pro-Israel right-wing activist.
Charlie Kirk
, after a manhunt that lasted nearly two days. The New York Post revealed that the arrestee is Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah.
Sources involved in the investigation told CNN that Robinson confessed to his father that he was the young man who shot Kirk - and it was the father who turned him in. He notified authorities and guarded his son until he was arrested. Kirk, a close Trump associate, was murdered on Wednesday at an event at the University of Utah.
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Murder suspect, Tyler Robinson
"I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have the man. Someone very close to him turned him in," Trump said in an interview with Fox News - and later revealed that a priest who was in contact with law enforcement spoke with the father, who was the one who turned his son in. According to Trump, authorities plan to announce the suspect's arrest later today.
"I hope he gets the death penalty," said the US president - who announced yesterday that he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom - adding that he did not know whether the arrested suspect was part of a larger network. Trump later said he intended to attend Kirk's funeral.
Robinson. His father turned him in.
Charlie Kirk. Trump plans to attend the funeral (Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
The press conference was held tonight, in which the authorities announced
New footage from campus security cameras
: A video showing the suspect jumping from the roof from which he shot Kirk and fleeing toward the woods where he left the rifle, and images showing him climbing onto the roof. Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bo Mason said at a press conference that the suspect left a handprint and other DNA evidence on the building as he jumped to the ground.
Last night, Reuters news agency published a drone image showing the roof from which the killer shot Kirk. The image shows some items scattered on the roof, and in the distance below it, in a straight line, is the tent where Kirk sat and spoke to the audience when he was shot to death.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released yesterday afternoon
Two pictures
of a man she is asking for the public's help in searching for, and who is apparently her main suspect in the murder, although officially he is currently only listed as wanted for investigation. The FBI also announced last night a cash reward of up to $100,000 for anyone who provides information that leads to the identification and arrest of the shooter and his accomplices, if any.
The killer's weapon, a high-powered rifle, was found in a wooded area and sent for laboratory testing. It was later reported that the rifle was found wrapped in a towel, and that the magazine inside still had three bullets waiting to be fired, all of which were written with messages expressing anti-fascist and pro-transgender ideology.
Kirk was known, among other things, for his statements against LGBT people, and transgender people in particular. CNN reported that a screwdriver was found near the rifle, and that investigators suspect that the killer used it to disassemble and reassemble the weapon before using it. Removing the butt could have helped the shooter hide the weapon in his bag or even in his clothes.
Kirk was shot at 12:20 p.m. local time (9:20 p.m. Israeli time) on Tuesday, while participating in a debate event in a tent set up on the grounds of Utah Valley University, and the shooting occurred about 20 minutes after he began his speech. Videos from the scene showed hundreds of people listening to him, when suddenly a bullet struck his neck. Kirk was filmed moving his hand towards his neck for a split second – and then falling from his chair as a stream of blood gushed out. Immediately afterwards, students were seen and heard fleeing the scene.
In the first hours after the incident, the US media reported that investigators estimate that the assassin shot Kirk from the roof of a nearby university building, from a distance of about 137 meters. In the footage released of the shooting, a suspect was seen running on the roof moments after the shooting, while the crowds at the event lay on the floor in panic. The New York Times noted that in another video, from a different angle of the same building, a person was seen lying on the roof before the shooting, and it is not impossible that this was the killer.
Kirk, who was only 31 years old when he died and left behind a wife and two young children, was a social activist and conservative radio host. He was the founder and CEO of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA – a student organization that he helped found before graduating from high school, and over the years it became a huge body with hundreds of chapters, tens of thousands of activists, budgets of millions of dollars and support from major conservative donors.
Kirk was considered a key figure in recruiting young voters for President Donald Trump in last year's election, in which his support among young people reached 46%, a 10% jump compared to the 2020 election. Trump has previously praised Kirk and his activities within Turning Point USA, and has previously said of him that he has built an"army of young people."
The organization Kirk led hosted the debate where he was shot, an event that was adorned with banners such as"The American Comeback" and "Prove Me Wrong." Kirk was known for his fondness for debate events where he urged his critics and ideological opponents to try to "win" him in political debates, and at such events he also often expressed his pro-Israel positions and defended Israel in the face of criticism leveled at it throughout the war in Gaza.
