In a big breakthrough two days after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday, the shooter who killed him has been taken into custody, revealed United States President Donald Trump “with a high degree of certainty” on Friday.
Donald Trump also said that the suspect was turned in by “somebody very close to him” while talking to Fox News.
This comes a day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released pictures and videos of the suspect, in which he is seen wearing a baseball cap and what seems like a black sweatshirt, with an American flag and an eagle on it. The video showed the suspect running on a rooftop before jumping from it and escaping.
Also read: Who is Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk shooting suspect identified after major manhunt?
These are the key revelations made about Charlie Kirk’s shooter-
Who is the suspect? While President Trump did not name the suspect who has been taken into custody, the New York Post said the he has been identified as 22-year-old Utah man named Tyler Robinson, citing law enforcement sources. Later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation also confirmed his identity during a press conference.
Who turned him in? Trump revealed during his interview with Fox News that the suspect was turned in by “somebody very close to him”, before giving a brief idea of what could have led to the authorities getting to him.
Confessed to father? The US President said, though rather vaguely, that the person who gave a lead about the suspect was a “person involved with law enforcement, but was a person of faith. A minister.” He also said that the father of the person who has been taken into custody also cooperated with authorities. Giving a clearer picture into the behind-the-scenes of how the suspect was caught, CNN reported that the man in custody confessed to his father that he was the shooter, citing two sources. Later, the authorities said that a family member of the suspect was also involved in turning him in.
Death penalty for the suspect? President Trump also said that he hopes the suspect is found guilty and that he gets “death penalty”. “I hope he’s going to be found guilty and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this,” he said.
Same guy who was in FBI photos? Trump confirmed that the suspect that has been taken into custody is the same person whose pictures and videos were released by the FBI on Thursday. He even highlight how someone close can identify the “tilt of the head” of the person. “We had very good pictures but not great, not perfect, and when you look at it…this happens a lot, it happened with the crazy Boston bomber, it happened with others…somebody close recognises even a little tilt of the head which no body else would do and somebody very close to him said – that’s him,” he said.
