President Donald Trump says Charlie Kirk’s killer has been found.
Speaking on Fox & Friends on Friday, the president revealed a suspect had been turned in by “someone close to him.”
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said.
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“I hope he gets the death penalty,” he later added.
According to the New York Post, the man in custody was named as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
Trump’s comments were made as the nation continues to reel from the brutal attack on Kirk, the outspoken and controversial right-wing activist who helped propel Trump back into the White House.
The 31-year-old was killed by a single bullet on Wednesday, fired from a gunman who remained at large for more than 24 hours, even after the FBI released photos of a person of interest.
But according to Trump, someone recognized the man in the photo.
Cautioning that his information was preliminary, the president said a minister communicated with the suspect’s father, which led to the suspect being turned in to authorities.
“They’re going to announce it today, sometime later,” Trump said.
“Somebody that was very close to him said: ‘that’s him’. And essentially went to the father, who went to a U.S. Marshal, who was fantastic, by the way… and the father convinced the son. Again, I’m always subject to being corrected.
“I just heard about it five minutes before I walked in. So you have breaking news.”
Asked what should happen to the suspect, he replied: “Well, he is going to be found guilty, I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty.
“Charlie Kirk was the finest person. He didn’t deserve this. He worked so hard and so well. Everybody liked him. Even the left is having a hard day.”
Kirk, the founder of youth organization Turning Point USA, was one of the best known figures in the MAGA movement, and a regular fixture on college campuses where he would push his conservative views on everything from transgender rights, gun control and abortion.
But his brutal death while sitting on a stage in front of thousands at Utah Valley University shocked the country and reignited concerns about political violence in America.
“It’s a dangerous business, and frankly it always has been,” said Trump, who was almost assassinated last year during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We have to go forward. You just have to go forward.”
Kirk’s murder is also a leadership test for Kash Patel, the MAGA acolyte who Trump tapped to be his FBI director after spending years pushing conspiracy theories about “deep state” operatives in the federal government who needed to be weeded out.
But Patel’s premature pronouncements about the inquiry placed his lack of experience under the spotlight and revived concerns about his obsession with social media.
According to a law enforcement official who confirmed the details of President Trump’s remarks to Fox News, a man was taken into custody at about 11 pm local time.
His name is yet to be released. A press conference will be held by the FBI later this morning to detail the latest developments.
