US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) said that the suspect behind conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder has been held and is in custody.
“I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody," the US President said on Fox & Friends, adding that “someone very close" to the suspect turned him in.
During the conversation, he later revealed that the suspect’s father helped the authorities turn the suspect in.
“The person, most probably his father, was involved with law enforcement, but was a person of faith, a minister, and brought him to a US Marshal who was fantastic. They drove into the police headquarters, and he’s there now. We have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for." Trump said, as quoted by the BBC, citing Fox News.
He further said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will officially announce the development later in the day.
Lauding the authorities, the US President said that they did a great job as everybody worked together to nab the accused.
“We started off with a clip that made him look like an ant, that was almost useless. We just saw there was somebody up there," Trump said.
He also vowed that Kirk’s killer should get the death penalty.
The US President paid tribute to Kirk, saying that he was “like a son" to him. He said that Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this.
He was “a brilliant guy" who “helped me with TikTok", Trump said, adding that Republicans never win young voters normally.
He also expressed his sorrow over Kirk’s assassination, saying that he did not want to watch the video of the shooting, adding that he did not want to remember Kirk that way.
It was earlier reported that the suspect “appears to be of college age" and had “blended in well with the college institution." Utah DPS Commissioner Beau Mason told reporters that the suspect fired from a nearby rooftop and fled the scene by jumping off the building.
However, Trump told Fox News that the arrested suspect is around 28 or 29 years of age.
Meanwhile, the FBI and Utah authorities released new photos of the “person of interest" in connection with the murder. In the photographs released, a man wearing a baseball cap and shades was captured in a stairwell of a building. He was seen carrying a black backpack and wearing a shirt with what appeared to be an American flag printed on it.
Conservative activist and President Trump’s ally, Charlie Kirk, was shot dead on Wednesday while addressing an open debate at Utah Valley University. The killing, captured on video, was carried out when a large crowd had gathered under a canopy marked with one of Kirk’s trademark slogans, “Prove Me Wrong."
Trump strongly condemned his assassination and called the murderer “a total animal". He had earlier described the killing as a “dark moment for America."
Earlier today, Trump spoke with Kirk’s widow, Erika. “We had a long talk, and she’s devastated. She’s absolutely devastated, as you can imagine," he said.
Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and two young daughters.
As a tribute to Kirk, Trump ordered American flags to be flown at half-mast until September 14 across federal buildings, military posts, naval stations, and US embassies worldwide.
