FBI Director Kash Patel did not disclose for hours that Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer had been arrested, ensuring that President Donald Trump could make the announcement on television.
Two days after Kirk’s murder, Patel revealed that Tyler Robinson, 22, had been taken into custody at 10 pm on Thursday in Utah, or midnight Eastern Standard Time.
However, the bureau did not inform the public that an arrest had been made until about nine hours later, allowing Trump, a former reality TV star-turned-politician, to reveal the crucial breakthrough during a Friday morning interview with Fox & Friends.
“You always have breaking news, Ainsley,” the president told Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt before making a joke about her partner Sean Hannity, who has his own late-night program.
“Sean’s going to be very disappointed that we’re not doing it on his show.”
The news that a suspect had been arrested was confirmed by Patel and Utah Governor Spencer Cox at a press conference about an hour later.
“We got him,” Cox said.
According to the Republican governor, a family member of the alleged gunman had helped turn him in to authorities after Robinson had indicated he carried out the killing.
Robinson’s father, who Cox said had recognized his son as the subject of photos released by law enforcement, was also involved and reportedly notified a member of his clergy, who in turn tipped off U.S. Marshals.
“The FBI and our partners are proud to stand here today together to bring justice to the family of Charlie Kirk and honor his memory,” Patel added.
The arrest was a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has placed Patel under immense scrutiny at a time when his handling of the Epstein files already miffed some in the MAGA world.
But tensions escalated this week when Patel prematurely announced on social media on Wednesday that a suspect had been apprehended following Kirk’s death.
Within hours, local Utah officials contradicted that statement, saying no suspect had been confirmed in custody.
Patel later clarified that two individuals had in fact been questioned over the case but were then released, a blunder that even frustrated some within the White House.
“It certainly wasn’t helpful,” one insider told The Daily Beast.
According to the New York Times, he then convened an online meeting with 200 agents around the country to discuss the manhunt, reportedly calling out subordinates who he said failed to give him timely information.
Others also noted that earlier this year, Patel’s team forced the retirement of Mehtab Syed, a highly regarded former counterterrorism agent appointed in February to run the Salt Lake City field office.
While the reasons remain unclear, critics suggested that such experience would have been needed on a high-stakes investigation of this nature.
Speaking at the press conference on Friday, the FBI director nonetheless took partial credit for Robinson’s arrest.
He said the decision to release the first set of photos on Thursday 10 am local time came at his direction.
Soon after, a reward of $100,000 was announced, and at 8 pm on Thursday, the FBI released a new video of the suspected gunman climbing down from the roof of a building on the campus of Utah Valley University and walking away from the scene.
“And just last night,” Patel said, “the suspect was taken into custody at 10 pm over time in less than 36 hours—33 to be precise—thanks to the full weight of the federal government teaming up with the partners here in the state of Utah and Governor Cox, the suspect was apprehended in historic time.”
