Associated Press
The FBI released photos of a person of interest in the shooting of Charlie Kirk as investigators are appealing to the public for tips.
The suspect is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday. They also disclosed they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.
The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that, in the last several years, has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
Here’s what we know so far:
— Searching for the shooter: Authorities in Utah are working to identify the shooter, who jumped off a roof and fled after firing the fatal shot. A high-powered, bolt-action rifle was recovered from area where the suspected Kirk shooter fled, the FBI said. Kirk’s killer “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with the college population on the Utah campus where Kirk had drawn a crowd of thousands, an official said.
— Kirk’s Legacy: The 31-year-old activist personified the pugnacious, populist conservatism that has taken over the Republican Party in the age of Trump. An unabashed Christian conservative who often made provocative statements about gender, race and politics, Kirk launched his organization, Turning Point USA, in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many GOP activists were nervous to tread.
— Trump declares Kirk a ‘martyr’: During remarks at the Pentagon Thursday, Trump said he would posthumously award Kirk with the honor at a later date. In a video message from the Oval Office late Wednesday, Trump called Kirk “a martyr for truth and freedom” and condemned the “demonizing” of political opponents in the U.S., even as he claimed the rhetoric of the “radical left” was “directly responsible” for the assassination of Kirk. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
