The FBI said it is working with state and local police "to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting" of Charlie K...
The FBI said it is working with state and local police "to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting" of Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Kirk was the founder of the right youth movement group Turning Point USA.
As the search for the criminal continued, the FBI asked the public for help and asked anyone with information, photos, or videos from the event to share them with agents.
The head of the FBI, Kash Patel, said earlier that the organization "fully supports the ongoing response and investigation."
They are going to have a news meeting on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. An announcement on UVU's website says the school will be closed until September 14.
As the search for the killer went on, President Trump and well-known members of the MAGA movement tried to connect the killing to Democratic political language.
In a video shared on social media, Trump said, "It's long past time for all Americans and the media to face the fact that demonizing people you disagree with leads to violence and murder."
"For years, those on the radical Left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals," he said. "This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now." Kirk, a father of two who was 31 years old, was seen as Trump's friend and had a lot of power in the right youth movement.
He started the conservative lobbying group Turning Point USA when he was 18 years old in 2012. During the 2024 elections, he was praised with getting a lot of young people to vote for Trump.
He was hit by a single bullet during the event outside on the Orem campus of the university around noon. After being taken to the hospital, Kirk was declared dead.
On the tour's website, it said that the Utah event would have a "prove me wrong" table. Before Kirk came to Utah Valley University, some students started an online petition to the school's leaders to not let him see them.
Police in Utah told ABC News that they were not aware of any specific or serious threats before the shooting death, even though Kirk's visit caused a stir on campus. Jeff Long, who is the police chief at the university, said that more than 3,000 people were present. A source told Long that there were six police officers and Kirk's private security.
In charge of the Utah Department of Public Safety, Beau Mason, the shooting was a "targeted attack," and the scene is a "very large area."
Mason said that the "only information" they have on the possible shooter comes from school CCTV, which shows that the person is wearing all dark clothes. He said the shot on campus came from a "longer distance," maybe from a roof. Authorities say they have found no proof that anyone else was involved.
Robert Bohls, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Salt Lake City, said the investigation is just getting started.
"We are following all the leads and all the evidence," he told the press on Wednesday. In a news statement Wednesday night, the Utah Department of Public Safety said that two people were arrested after the shooting but were later freed.
The first person was let go, but later charged with obstruction by campus police. "Interrogation" by police led to the release of the second person, according to the department.
According to police in Utah, "there are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals."
Trump was one of the people who said nice things about Kirk. On Twitter, Trump wrote, "The Great and even Legendary Charlie Kirk is dead." "Charlie was the only one who really got the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America." Everyone loved and admired him, but I loved and admired him the most. He is no longer with us. Melania and I are sorry for the loss of his beautiful wife Erika and their family. Jack, we love you!"
"It's terrible. "It's one of the worst things I've ever seen," Trump told Jonathan Karl, Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News.
Trump said, "He was a great guy." "He was a good person." He was a great person. "No one likes him."
In honor of Kirk, Trump told all American flags across the country to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening.
Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah called the killing a "political assassination." After the shooting, Vice President JD Vance asked people to pray for Kirk and called him "a genuinely good guy and a young father."
At one point, Cox said that he was being told about what happened "following the violence directed at Charlie Kirk" while the right activist was on campus.
"Those who are responsible will be held fully responsible." There is no place for violence in public. "This act must be condemned by all Americans, no matter what party they belong to," he said on X.
Political opponents from all sides spoke out against it.
"This kind of violence has no place in our country." Ex-President Joe Biden said, "It has to end now." "Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk's family and loved ones." The attack on Charlie Kirk was horrible, and this kind of rising violence that isn't right can't happen in our society, said Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on X.
Gavin Newsom, another Democratic governor of California, said on X that the attack on Charlie Kirk was "disgusting, vile, and reprehensible." We must NEVER accept ANY kind of political murder in the United States.