FBI shares photos of person of interest in Kirk shooting
The Salt Lake City FBI field office has shared pictures of a person of interest in the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Two pictures posted on X show a person in black sunglasses, a baseball cap, a long sleeved black shirt and jeans.
The FBI is asking for the public’s help identifying the person in connection with the attack at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Key events
Tess Owen
Within hours of Charlie Kirk being shot dead at a college event in Utah, he’d been turned into a far-right martyr in the US’s raging culture war. Many prominent rightwing voices and influencers quickly characterized his murder, in no uncertain terms, as an act of war from the left – and have vowed to respond in kind.
“We have to have steely resolve,” said conservative political strategist Steve Bannon on his show War Room. “Charlie Kirk is a casualty of war. We are at war in this country. We are.”
Even as the suspect – and any information about their motivations or political leanings – remained at large and unknown, incendiary rhetoric from major political commentators spread rapidly online, blaming leftist violence for Kirk’s death. Many called for swift retribution in the form of an aggressive crackdown against their political enemies.
“If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die,” wrote Elon Musk on X.
“They are at war with us, whether we want to accept it or not. What are we gonna do about it?” Fox News host Jesse Watters said on air Wednesday night. “Everybody’s accountable… the politicians, the media, and all these rats out there. This can never happen again. It ends now. This is a turning point and we know which direction we’re going.”
“We are up against demonic forces from the pit of Hell,” wrote commentator and podcaster Matt Walsh on X. “This is existential. A fight for our own existence and the existence of our country.”
While all three living former presidents released statements addressing Kirk’s death, condemning political violence while calling for calm, introspection and civility, Donald Trump put out a video statement Wednesday night saying that rhetoric from “the radical left” was “directly responsible for the terrorism we are seeing in our country today”.
Trump to speak with Kirk’s family today
Speaking to reporters after his remarks at the Pentagon today, Donald Trump confirmed that he would speak to Charlie Kirk’s family “later this afternoon”.
“You don’t replace a Charlie Kirk. He was unique,” the president added.
State department vows to ‘take action’ against ‘foreigners’ they deem to be praising Charlie Kirk’s assasination
In a post on X, the deputy secretary of state Chris Landau has said that he’s directed consular officials to “undertake appropriate action” against any “foreigners who glorify violence and hatred”.
He added that he’s “been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light” of Kirk’s assassination.
Notably, Landau said consular officials would also be monitoring his post to crowd source submissions from users who see posts that aren’t in line with the department’s views.
Top Trump adviser calls for ‘defeat of this wicked ideology’ following Kirk shooting
Stephen Miller, the president’s deputy chief of staff, has said there is “an ideology at war with family and nature”, following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The shooter remains at large, and has not been identified.
Regardless, Miller insinuated that the killer subscribed to “an ideology that looks upon the perfect family with bitter rage while embracing the serial criminal with tender warmth”.
He added that “the fate of millions depends upon the defeat of this wicked ideology”.
Anna Betts
Following his tribute to Kirk, Trump shifted his remarks at the Pentagon to the events of 9/11.
“That terrible morning, 24 years ago, time itself stood still,” Trump said. “The laughter of school children fell silent, the rush of our traffic came to an absolute halt, and for 2,977 innocent souls and their families, their entire world came crashing down.”
“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget September 11, 2001,” Trump said, before reading some of the final words exchanged by passengers aboard the hijacked airplanes that day to their loved ones.
“In America, we take blows, but we never buckle, we bleed, but we do not bow, and we defy the fear, endure the flames and emerge from the crucible of every hunch and stronger, prouder and greater than ever before” Trump said.
“Last year, we were a dead country” Trump said, adding that “now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
He also referenced his decision to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War.
“If you attack the United States of America, we will hunt you down, and we will find you” Trump said. “We will crush you without mercy, and we will triumph without question, that’s why we named the former Department of Defense the Department of War.”
“Everybody wanted it” Trump added. “Everybody is so happy to have it back.”
Thursday’s observance ceremony at the Pentagon commemorated the 184 lives lost when the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
Jon Henley
European far-right leaders have heaped praise on Charlie Kirk, with several also claiming his death was a consequence of violent leftwing rhetoric.
Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, denounced what he called the “dehumanising rhetoric of the left and its intolerance”, which he said “fuel political violence”. Bardella added: “No one can ignore this poison that is eating away at our democratic societies.”
In Germany, Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, posted that Kirk was “a fighter for freedom of speech” who had been “shot by a fanatic who hates our way of life and discussion”. She sent her condolences to Kirk’s family.
The leader of Spain’s far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, reposted a rightwing accusation that leftwingers were justifying Kirk’s death because of his “horrible ideas”, adding: “I’ve already lived through it. Some point and others shoot. Since censorship isn’t enough for them, they resort to murder.”
Other far-right leaders praised Kirk’s ideas. In the Netherlands, the anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders, the leader of the far-right Freedom party (PVV), reposted a social media comment by Kirk, in which the activist had called Islam “the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America”.
Wilders, who has a conviction for insulting Dutch Moroccans, added that Kirk was “100% right here. Out of respect for him and his bravery I repeat his true words that are valid for Europe as well: Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of Europe.”
Trump to award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom
Anna Betts
Standing outside the Pentagon on Thursday morning for the memorial services marking the 24th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Donald Trump opened his remarks by addressing the assassination of right-wing activist and close ally, Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
Trump announced that he will be soon awarding Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“The date of the ceremony will be announced, and I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd,” the president said.
Kirk, Trump said, 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, fantastic people they are,” Trump added. “We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”
Utah safety officials say suspect ‘blended in’ and was likely of ‘college age’
Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, gave limited information about the suspect that is still at large.
He did say that shooter “blended in” and “appears to be of college age”.
The new pictures of the suspect are an overnight development, after investigators studied the video footage of the event.
Special agent Coles added that he did not believe the wider community to be at risk with the shooter still not in custody. He said they’re treating the attack as a “targeted event”.
Coles said that the FBI has received more than 130 tips, which are being “fully investigated”.
FBI says it has recovered weapon believed to have been used to kill Charlie Kirk
Speaking to the press, Robert Coles, the Special Agent in charge of the FBI Salt Lake Field Office, said that officials have recovered a “high powered bolt action rifle” they believe to be the weapon used to kill Charlie Kirk in yesterday’s shooting.
“A rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled” and the FBI laboratory will be “analyzing this weapon”, Coles said.
He added that investigators have also collected “footwear, impression, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis”.
Mason adds that officials have been able to trace the shooters movement after the attack: “He moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building, and fled off of the campus into a neighborhood.”
He goes on to say that investigators “do have good video footage of this individual”, but said they would not release the footage at this time. “We’re working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual. If we are unsuccessful, we will reach out to you as the media, and we will push that publicly to help us identify them,” he says.
Utah officials ask public to be ‘patient’ as they search for Kirk’s shooter
Utah officials are speaking at a press conference now. The commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, Beau Mason, asked the public to be ‘patient’ as they continue for the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk.
He added that the two individuals that were taken into custody, who were later released, “were not suspects” but “people of interest”. Mason said that federal and state officers “do not deserve harassment” as they continue their investigation.
One of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists, Tommy Robinson, has said that a “free speech event”, scheduled for Saturday 13 September is now “more important than ever”, in light of Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“Charlie stood for me, Charlie stood for Britain & on the 13th Britain will stand to honour him,” Robinson wrote.
Earlier, Robinson said that “our sadness and our righteous anger can be seen, heard, and felt everywhere across the world”, a day after Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University.
We’re due to hear updates on the shooting from the FBI and the Utah Department of Public Safety at a press conference, scheduled for 9am ET.
We’ll bring you the latest here.
The FBI is seeking more information on the shooter who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk, at the Utah Valley University campus event. The Salt Lake City field office has set up a tip line to encourage people with any details to come forward.
This, after two subjects taken into custody on Wednesday were released, and a manhunt is under way.
Donald Trump, and first lady Melania Trump, are due to attend an event at the Pentagon at 8:45am ET, in observance of the 9/11 attacks.
The press will be present, so we’ll bring you the latest lines as we get them.
