OREM, UTAH— The long search for the person who is thought to have killed Charlie Kirk is over. US President Donald Trump announced the suspect’s arrest on Friday. President Trump told Fox News, “I think we have him in custody with a high degree of certainty.”
The suspect is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah. Governor Spencer Cox said that a family member turned Robinson in to the police and told them where he was and what he was doing. President Trump commended this teamwork, stating, “Somebody close to him turned him, you know.” He also said that a clergyman and the suspect’s father helped catch him.
The arrest comes after a quick and thorough investigation that started after Kirk was shot and killed while giving a speech at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had already found a high-powered, bolt-action rifle in a wooded area near the university. They think this is the gun that was used to kill the victim. The gun is being looked at right now, along with additional evidence including shoe prints and palm prints.
Governor Cox has said that Utah will ask for the death penalty in Robinson’s case.
Kirk was answering a question on gun violence when he was killed. He has talked about this issue before at a similar gathering in Utah in 2023. Kirk defended the Second Amendment by saying, “I think it’s worth having a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” He was shot and killed in the same state just two years later. This is a sad irony that shows how political violence is on the rise in the US.