Alleged Charlie Kirk shooter in custody, identified as 22-year-old Utah man | CBC News

A 22-year-old Utah man was arrested on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offences in connection with the fatal shooting of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week.

The suspect has been named as Tyler Robinson, 22, a state resident who did not attend Utah Valley University, where Kirk was gunned down. Officials learned Thursday evening about the suspect, through tips from family members and friends.

Gov. Spencer Cox made the announcement surrounded by police and FBI officials. Cox, a Republican, said officials had heard from those close to the suspect that he had grown more political recently and was opposed to Kirk’s beliefs.

Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization had scheduled two campus events in September in Utah. Kirk, 31, was shot while speaking before a campus gathering outdoors at the university in Orem, Utah.

Cox said it was believed the suspect acted alone.

The governor said the suspect changed clothing, and through the use of surveillance video, law enforcement was able to match clothing and a vehicle belonging to him. Engravings on bullets found in a rifle believed to have been used in the attack contained messages, including homophobic language, it was alleged at the news conference. 

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier suggested the manhunt had come to its conclusion, in a Fox News interview, saying he learned of the development just before arriving on set.

“As I understand it, and again, subject to change, but the facts are the facts, we have the person that we think is the person we were looking for,” Trump told the hosts of morning show Fox and Friends.

Kirk was a supporter of Trump’s dating back to the Republican’s first presidential campaign in 2016. Trump, in turn, has expressed admiration for the 31-year-old influencer.

“In many ways, he’s bigger now,” said Trump.

FBI Director Kash Patel at the news conference aid the “full weight of the federal government” was brought to bear since the shooting, in addition to the work of local police and images and video shared through the media.

Patel then addressed Kirk, who he described as a friend. 

“Rest now, brother,” the agency director said. “We have the watch, and I’ll see you in Valhalla.”

Robinson is a registered voter but was not affiliated with a political party, according to state voter records. Utah State University, a different school, confirmed to Reuters that Robinson had once attended there but had not graduated.

Robinson does not appear to have any criminal history, according to state records reviewed by Reuters.  

Spoke of gun violence in his final moments

Kirk was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack. Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle manufactured by Mauser near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.

The attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about U.S. gun violence, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.

WATCH l Most politicians call for unity, but one big exception: 

Charlie Kirk shooting latest in surge of U.S. political violence

The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is the latest in a surge of political violence that has occurred in recent years in the U.S., something experts have linked to more heated rhetoric and access to weapons.

Investigators said they believe the suspect blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance.

Kirk requested an open-air courtyard for the event, sources told the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah. About 15 security officers were on duty, divided between university and Turning Point staff, the newspaper reported.

Trump has said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the U.S. He also plans to attend his funeral.

Vice- President J.D. Vance on Thursday helped carry Kirk’s casket, which was aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where Kirk resided.

Governor calls for unity

Kirk was a conservative provocateur who became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes vehement debate on social issues.

At the news conference, Gov. Cox said the shooting was an attack on American ideals, and he urged people to tamp down rhetoric and engage each other with words, not violence. He addressed young people specifically, and appeared to take aim at Big Tech algorithms.

“Social media is a cancer,” he said. “And I would urge people to log off, turn off and touch grass.”

The shooting has drawn largely bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

But Trump on Friday seemed to dismiss that narrative, when asked by Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt — who suggested there were radicals on both extremes of the political spectrum — what could be done to “fix this country.”

“I’ll tell you something that’s gonna get me in trouble but I couldn’t care less,” said Trump. “The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem.”

Trump bemoaned the fact that any prosecution for a shooting suspect will likely take years, based on past precedent, to wind its way through the courts. The president said he hoped the suspect would face the death penalty.