President Trump announced Friday that the suspect in the fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk is in custody. According to Trump, the father of the alleged assassin recognized him in FBI-released photos and turned him in. The news comes amidst the release of a study showing “press freedom” tanking worldwide.
WHAT HAPPENED
In a Fox News interview just minutes before a scheduled law enforcement press conference, Trump revealed the latest development in the manhunt for Kirk’s killer.
“I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” he said, adding that the individual was turned in “by somebody that was very close to him.”
NBC News confirmed, via three senior law enforcement officials, that a family member (now revealed to be the suspect’s father) drove the suspect to a police station after identifying him from surveillance stills circulated by the FBI. Those images showed a figure leaping from a rooftop near Utah Valley University—where Kirk was shot during a campus event Wednesday—and fleeing on foot.
Trump, informed of the arrest just before his interview, added:
“I hope he gets the death penalty.”
WHAT IT MEANS
If confirmed, this marks a swift capture in one of the most politically explosive killings in recent U.S. memory, but after several law enforcement missteps. In the wake of the shooting, local authorities and the FBI created confusion by announcing they had the suspect in custody and, then, that they did not. This was followed by conflicting information about political messages that may or may not have been found on the suspect’s recovered gun.
While the suspect’s name has not yet been made public, the incident has already intensified debate about political violence, free speech, and extremism in America.
Authorities have not yet provided any evidence about the shooter’s ideological leanings. But as emphasized in my reflection on the 24th anniversary of 9/11, the most significant threat to freedom in America no longer comes from foreign terrorists — it comes from within. Censorship by gunfire threatens every voice in our democracy. When ideology becomes justification for a bullet, free speech ceases to be a “right” and becomes a “risk.”
Indeed, a report was released this week showing that freedom of the press — a reliable barometer for freedom of speech overall — is tanking, and not just in the United States. A leading think tank found that press freedoms have hit a 50-year low around the world because of a combination of government crackdowns on news organizations, violence, and the surge of social-media-fueled disinformation.
WHAT’S NEXT
Though Charlie Kirk may not have been a journalist, per se, the attack is already stirring debate about press freedom and the health of the First Amendment writ large.
So far it’s sent chills across the media and political spectrum and leading people to self-censor. In the time since the shooting, Members of Congress and news media figures have confirmed to me they are cancelling public remarks and/or putting in place elaborate security measures for fear that their public commentary will put them in the crosshairs.
The coming days will be tenuous in the United States. People will be worried about reprisals, both from lone wolves and from the potential for government crackdowns in response. The nation — and all of its political factions — will be watching closely to see whether justice is pursued, weaponized, or used to bring the country’s factions together.
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A preening asshole determined to be the bride at every funeral, the corpse at every wedding, the baby at every exorcism, rushes to upstage not just local law enforcement, but his own FBI director. Meanwhile, the search warrants haven’t even been executed properly.
Cabal of swaggering, preening, self-fluffing incompetents.
The most frightening aspect of this event for me is the further eroding of my first amendment right of freedom of speech (and possibly thought). Anyone of us to dares to express other than deep grief at Kirk's murder, anyone of us who dares say we need fewer guns, anyone of us who decries far-right or far-left hate rhetoric is suspect. If we are foreign born we may be deported. Who does this? Who allows this? Is this the America my father fought for in WW2? My generation fought for in Vietnam? Others have fought for in Korea? Still others in Afghanistan and Iraq?
A preening asshole determined to be the bride at every funeral, the corpse at every wedding, the baby at every exorcism, rushes to upstage not just local law enforcement, but his own FBI director. Meanwhile, the search warrants haven’t even been executed properly.
Cabal of swaggering, preening, self-fluffing incompetents.
The most frightening aspect of this event for me is the further eroding of my first amendment right of freedom of speech (and possibly thought). Anyone of us to dares to express other than deep grief at Kirk's murder, anyone of us who dares say we need fewer guns, anyone of us who decries far-right or far-left hate rhetoric is suspect. If we are foreign born we may be deported. Who does this? Who allows this? Is this the America my father fought for in WW2? My generation fought for in Vietnam? Others have fought for in Korea? Still others in Afghanistan and Iraq?