DNA proof hyperlinks the suspect within the assassination of conservative American activist Charlie Kirk final week to the scene of the crime, the director of the FBI has mentioned.
DNA from a towel and a screwdriver recovered from the crime scene each match Tyler Robinson, FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned on Monday.
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Robinson, 22, was arrested by police on Thursday after a 33-hour manhunt for the killer.
“I can report right this moment that the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped across the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody,” Patel mentioned in an interview on Fox Information’s Fox & Buddies.
Patel mentioned Robinson had additionally expressed his want to “take out” Kirk in a textual content change with one other individual, and had written a be aware detailing his plans to commit the crime.
Patel mentioned the be aware had been destroyed, however investigators recovered forensic proof of its existence on the dwelling of Robinson and his romantic accomplice, who prosecutors have mentioned has been cooperating within the investigation.
“We’ve got proof to indicate what was in that be aware, which is… mainly saying… ‘I’ve the chance to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it’,” he mentioned.
Kirk, the CEO and cofounder of conservative youth activist organisation Turning Level USA and a detailed ally of US President Donald Trump, was shot lifeless final Wednesday throughout a talking occasion at a college in Utah.
The killing of Kirk, a polarising determine who was lionised by conservatives and reviled by liberals, has provoked condemnation throughout the political spectrum, whereas drawing consideration to deep political divisions in america and elevating fears of additional political violence.
The homicide has additionally prompted requires retribution among the many political proper, together with from Trump, who has promised to make use of the ability of the federal authorities to crack down on left-wing networks that he claims are driving violence.
On Monday, Trump mentioned his administration was wanting into bringing racketeering expenses in opposition to left-wing teams believed to be funding agitators, and favoured designating the loose-knit antifascist group Antifa as home terrorists.
In an look as visitor host of Kirk’s podcast, Vice President JD Vance threw his help behind a grassroots on-line marketing campaign to get individuals who celebrated Kirk’s dying fired, urging listeners to “name them out” and “name their employer”.
Quite a few workers throughout the US have been fired or placed on go away over their social media commentary about Kirk’s dying, not all of whom celebrated or justified the assassination.
Washington Publish columnist Karen Attiah mentioned on Monday that she had been fired over her social media posts about Kirk.
In a column on Substack, Attiah mentioned she had been terminated for “talking out in opposition to political violence, racial double requirements, and America’s apathy towards weapons”.
Attiah included numerous previous posts about political violence in her column, solely one in every of which talked about Kirk particularly.
That publish misquoted Kirk as saying that Black girls “should not have the mind processing energy to be taken critically.”
Kirk’s precise feedback particularly referred to the intelligence of 4 Black girls, together with former first woman Michelle Obama and Supreme Courtroom Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Trump’s pledge to crack down on what he says is left-wing extremism has raised fears that his administration could search to make use of Kirk’s homicide as a pretext to stifle legit dissent.
Responding to a declare by Vance that “a lot of the lunatics” in US politics reside on the far-left, Democratic lawmaker Greg Casar accused the Trump administration of weaponising considerations about political violence in opposition to its opponents.
“He can’t be allowed to make use of the horrible homicide of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to go after peaceable political opposition,” Casar, who represents a Texas district within the US Home of Representatives, mentioned in a press release.
Excessive-profile acts of political violence have focused figures on each the left and proper of US politics in recent times.
They embody the killing of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota in June, two assassination makes an attempt on Trump throughout the 2024 presidential marketing campaign, and a 2022 hammer assault on the husband of Democratic former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Consultants say that politically motivated assaults and threats are on the rise within the US.
Greater than 250 incidents of threats and harassment in opposition to native officers had been reported within the first half of 2025, a 9 p.c improve from the earlier yr, in line with the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton College.
Whereas little info has been launched about Robinson’s suspected motive to this point, Patel on Monday affirmed an earlier assertion by Utah Governor Spencer Cox that the suspect espoused left-wing views.
“His household has collectively informed investigators that he subscribed to left-wing ideology, and much more so in these final couple of years,” Patel mentioned.
