A press conference took place today in Utah by authorities, subsequent to the announcement this morning of the arrest of the suspect in the assassination of conservative youth organizer Charlie Kirk. The suspect’s name is Tyler Robinson and he is a 22-year-old Utah resident. He was first turned in by his father, who had known of his animus against Kirk and his knowledge of the upcoming rally at Utah Valley University. The father told investigators that his son had “become more political lately.” Details of the discussions in the family have not been made public. Investigators were also able to determine from photographs taken of the shooter at the event and video messages on Discord provided by a friend of Robinson’s that there was clear evidence that he was, indeed, the shooter.
The suspect had arrived at the event in one set of clothes, which he changed when he positioned himself to shoot, changing back again after the shooting. He had also hidden the rifle in some brush prior to the event, which he then retrieved after his arrival on the site.
At the press conference, the speakers were FBI Director Kash Patel, Utah Governor Spenser Cox, FBI Agent-in-Charge Robert Bohls, and also the Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith. While Patel and Smith gave details of the investigation, Cox made an impassioned speech calling on the people of Utah and the American people to begin to travel a different path than that on which the country is presently. He described how people in Utah had come together, both Republicans and Democrats, to pray and to commit themselves to dialogue.
“This is much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us…. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times,” Cox said.
