DONALD Trump has announced a suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk has been taken into custody after being turned in by his dad.
The President was appearing live on Fox & Friends this morning where he said cops have a “high degree of certainty” they have the “person they are looking for”.
Trump made the bombshell announcement on Fox & Friends
Trump said he had been told just ‘five minutes’ before going on live TV
GettyThis screenshot taken from a video footage released by the FBI showing the sniper’s escape[/caption]
ReutersCharlie Kirk moments before he was shot dead in Utah[/caption]
AFPTributes are paid to Kirk with flowers and photos[/caption]
ReutersA drone view shows the scene where Charlie was killed[/caption]
Multiple sources in US media have now identified the suspect as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah.
Trump said the suspect was recognized by people close to him, and suggested the suspect’s father drove him to a police station and handed him over.
He said: “They have somebody that they think did it.”
The killer had evaded police for more than 24 hours after Wednesday’s horror assassination when conservative firebrand Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop 200 yards away.
Hundreds of agents from across 20 law enforcement agencies were involved in the hunt.
Trump explained that someone “very close” to the suspect turned him.
He then expanded that it was the suspect’s father – and said a church minister connected to the US Marshals office had also been involved.
Sources later said the suspect confessed to his dad that he had killed Charlie, reports CNN.
Trump said: “They drove into the police headquarters. He’s there now.”
The President did say he was “always subject to be corrected” – but added “as I was walking in, they said ‘looking real good’”.
The President said he did not know if the suspect was part of a bigger network, did not reveal his name, and added he had only been told “five minutes” before going live on TV.
He added: “I hope he’s going to be found guilty and I hope he gets the death penalty.
“What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this.”
Police officials later confirmed the details – saying a man was taken into custody at about 11pm by Utah state and local police, reports Fox News.
Federal authorities are reportedly not releasing his name because they are still in the process of pursuing leads and executing search warrants.
Trump yesterday paid a glowing tribute to Charlie and announced he would be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
What we know so far:
Charlie Kirk was shot dead at Utah Valley University
The FBI released pictures of a ‘person of interest’ wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses
Chilling CCTV shows the sniper jump from roof and escape
Kirk’s wife Erika is ‘devastated’, Trump says after emotional phone call
Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Medal of Freedom
Kirk was warned about safety just months before being killed
Elon Musk blamed Democrats for the assassination
Eyewitness reveals horror details of fatal shot moment
The gong is the highest honour a civilian can receive in the US.
The date of the ceremony is yet to be announced – but Trump said he had no doubt there will be a “very, very big crowd”.
Paying tribute to his friend, Trump said: “We miss him greatly.
“Yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage that he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”
Trump also called the assassination of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk “a dark moment for America” as he vowed a sweeping crackdown on political violence.
In a solemn four-minute video filmed from the Oval Office and shared on Truth Social, the president said he was “filled with grief and anger.
Meanwhile, chilling CCTV was released by the FBI showing the suspected sniper fleeing from the Utah Valley University campus after shooting dead Charlie.
The grainy clip shows the gunman, described as a male who “appears to be of college age,” moving fast across the roof before lowering himself over the edge and jumping down.
He leaves behind a palm print and shoe impression before casually slipping into the crowd of students, blending in as he strolled off campus.
Moments later, he was seen vanishing into a wooded area where police later discovered a high-powered bolt action rifle, believed to be the murder weapon.
And also Charlie’s heartbroken widow Erika was seen arriving back in Arizona alongside his coffin, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance.
After the discovery of the gun – and the new CCTV footage, the manhunt for the killer has stepped up a fear.
I hope he’s going to be found guilty and I hope he gets the death penalty
Donald Trump
FBI agent Robert Bohls confirmed: “I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday’s shooting… is a high-powered bolt action rifle.
Authorities are urging the public to come forward with information.
“That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon.”
Beau Mason, head of Utah’s Department of Public Safety, said: “We have no idea about the suspect’s identity or where he may be located.”
The suspect was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses, a distinctive t-shirt with the American flag and eagle, as well as a backpack.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said that more than 7,000 tips have poured in and over 200 interviews have already been conducted.
FBI Salt Lake CityThe FBI released pictures of a ‘person of interest’ at Utah Valley University[/caption]
AFPHe was also seen with a black backpack, sunglasses and Converse shoes[/caption]
APCharlie Kirk speaking before he was shot on Wednesday[/caption]
ReutersA drone view shows where the shooter perched on a rooftop as he fatally shot Charlie Kirk[/caption]
New York PostPictures published by the New York Post appear to show the rifle used to kill Kirk[/caption]
Kirk, a father-of-two and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck on Wednesday afternoon while addressing students at Utah Valley University.
He died in hospital shortly afterwards.
Kirk was a towering figure of the American right, with millions of social media followers and a key role in rallying youth support for Donald Trump during last November’s election.
His campus events drew huge crowds and he was considered one of the most influential voices of the MAGA movement.
Tributes have poured in, led by Trump himself, who honoured Kirk at a 9/11 memorial event in Virginia.
“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt,” Trump said.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.
“Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika, and his beautiful children.”
Charlie Kirk’s enemies chose murder over free speech but here’s why they will never kill what he’s unleashed
by Harry Cole, Editor-at-Large
“WHEN people stop talking, really bad stuff starts,” said Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old father of two and free speech hero cut down by a coward’s bullet.
“When marriages stop talking, divorce happens; when civilisations stop talking, civil war ensues”, Kirk riffed in one of his signature video exchanges with a politically opposed stranger.
“When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group,” continued the clean-cut Christian activist who played a critical role tilting millions of college voters towards Donald Trump last year.
“We as a culture have to get back to being able to have a reasonable disagreement where violence is not an option.”
But his prescient plea was not to be.
His enemies chose murder over free speech.
The most articulate conservative voice of his generation was silenced by a bullet to the throat that law enforcement last night suggested was engraved with “expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology.”
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