President Donald Trump said this in a live interview with Fox News.
- Adriane Lilleskare Lunde
Journalist - Journalist
On Wednesday evening Norwegian time, conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at a university in Utah.
Kirk was shot in the throat.
The perpetrator was at large for a long time, but is now believed to have been caught, according to Trump.
He says this directly in a live interview on the Fox News television channel.
"I found out just before I walked in here, like five minutes ago. We have the person we think we're looking for, he's in police custody," Trump said.
In the interview, Trump says that the suspect is in police custody.
The president says he was tipped off by someone close to him. The suspect's father, according to CNN.
"I hope the culprit gets the death penalty," Trump said.
Found rifle
The FBI has long struggled to get to the bottom of the case. On Thursday, they released photos of a person of interest in dark clothing and a cap.
There are also videos of a person jumping off a roof in the area in question.
The FBI previously worked on the hypothesis that the man escaped through a local neighborhood. They also found a rifle near the scene.
On tour
The shooting has received massive media attention in the United States and the rest of the world.
Charlie Kirk was a person who engaged and provoked on social media.
He had his own tours where he traveled around to speak and discuss at universities. It was at one such event that the shooting occurred.
“Charlie could go to any school, and he would have a bigger audience than anyone from the radical left,” Trump says.
– An incredible talent
Kirk has supported Trump in several controversial statements, including the false allegations of election fraud in 2020.
– He was an incredible talent, but not so much a talent, he really believed in this. He didn't deserve this, he was a good person, Trump said Friday.
When asked if it is important that people see how he died, the president replies:
– I didn't want to see. I didn't want to remember Charlie that way. But I hear it was terrible.
– He was a wonderful person. But he is bigger now, because of what has happened.
The killing has shaken the political landscape in the United States. Both Republicans and Democrats have condemned the act.
