President Trump did not rule out Charlie Kirk’s killer being a “trained assassin” when quizzed by reporters.
The assailant killed the MAGA activist, 31, with a shot fired from about 200 yards away as he spoke to students at Utah Valley University in Orem.
The distance of the shot has sparked questions about the killer’s training. “I’d rather not say,” Trump said, from outside the White House, when asked about an assassin.
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Trump, speaking on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, revealed that a suspect was in custody.
“We have him,” the president said. He added that he hopes the shooter faces capital punishment. “I hope he gets the death penalty,” he said.
“Somebody who was very close to him turned him in,” he said, speaking from the studio. Speaking about the grainy images released by the FBI, he said a family member recognized the subject. “They said, ‘Hmm, that’s him.’”
The FBI found an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area in the wake of the attack. Utah’s Department of Public Safety then released a video of the suspect heading in that direction after jumping from the roof of the university. The weapon is primarily used for hunting and sports, but has also been used in military conflicts.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader in the U.K., told British media that anyone who can shoot accurately from such a distance “knows what they’re doing.”
“You have to have planned it, you have to have found the right spot to do it, and you have to have deliberately done it and found an escape route straight away, which you already planned. So that is a planned assassination in my book.”
Officials have appealed to the public for help finding the activist’s killer. “We need as much help as we can possibly get,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox told a news conference on Thursday.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Cox said, appearing alongside a mute Kash Patel, director of the FBI. Investigators have gathered clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression, and a high-powered hunting rifle, but have yet to name a suspect or a motive.
Trump, meanwhile, said he is not concerned for his own safety. “Not really, I’m really concerned for the country,” he told reporters.
“We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved.”
He said this seconds after urging a “non-violent” response.
Police in Utah have released a new video and images of a “person of interest,” as Kirk’s killer remains at large. The agency has offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to their arrest.
“He’s an animal, total animal, and hopefully they’ll have him, and they’ll get him. What he did is disgraceful,” Trump said after attending a Yankees game in New York on Thursday. “Hopefully, we’ll have him, and we will deal with him very appropriately.”
On the search for the killer, he added, “They have a virtual manhunt out there. So we’ll see what happens. We hope you get them.”
The White House and the FBI have been contacted for comment.
