Utah – Fatal assassination attempt on one of the most famous conservative influencers! Charlie Kirk was shot at a pro-Trump event on the campus of Utah Valley University (Utah). He was only 31.
Kirk, founder of the conservative student organization Turning Point USA, mobilized young voters for Trump and championed Christian-conservative values. His online presence and university events reached millions of Americans and motivated them to engage in political debate.
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Now live: FBI comments on the Kirk assassination attempt
FBI Director Kash Patel and the local authorities investigating the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk are holding a press conference in Utah after US President Donald J. Trump announced that someone is in custody.
Now live: FBI on the arrest of the suspected Kirk assassin
US President Trump: Suspect arrested!
Investigators have arrested a suspect in the Charlie Kirk murder case. US President Donald Trump (79) announced this personally!
"I think we have him," Trump said on Friday.
The US President also told Fox News that the suspected shooter had been taken into custody.
Trump:"Someone very close to him has betrayed him."
Details about the suspect are not yet known, nor are the exact course of the investigation.
According to the American broadcaster CNN, Trump indicated, however, that the suspect was found through a clergyman."It was a minister, and the minister contacted a friend – a minister who, by the way, works in law enforcement, and whose good friend is a high-ranking U.S. Marshal, and they followed up from there, and then the father was involved," Trump said, according to CNN.
Trump also emphasized, however, that the news could"still change" at any time.
Shortly before the arrest was announced, the office of the governor of Utah had announced a press conference for 3 p.m. German time (9 a.m. ET). State and federal officials will then provide an update on the manhunt, it was reported.
BILD reporter at the scene of the Kirk assassination attempt
BILD reporter Herbert Bauernebel reports from the spot where Charlie Kirk was shot on Wednesday.
: The shooter knew his way around very well
Mourners gather at TPUSA headquarters
Several memorials have been set up around the headquarters of Charlie Kirk's organization"Turning Point USA" in Phoenix, Arizona. Mourners gathered to honor the murdered Kirk.
A grieving supporter told CNN:"I just had to come here today because this was a truly heartless act, and I'm so sad. I think when people try to silence us, we need to stick together and be like a family."