President Trump announced early Friday that a suspect has been arrested for Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” during a live interview at the cable giant’s Manhattan studio, saying he heard just minutes before his 8 a.m. interview.
“Somebody who was very close to him turned him in,” the president said, saying it was relayed through “a minister who was involved with law enforcement.”
“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.”
Trump did not ID the suspect. Investigators have scheduled a public update for later this morning.
The suspect was allegedly believed to have fired a single shot from an elevated position about 200 yards from the tent where Kirk, 31, was seated at the university’s Losee Center, authorities and sources previously told The Post.
Initial reports described the suspect as a gunman wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black vest perched with a long rifle atop a building east of the school’s library.
Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA and dad of two, had just answered a question from an audience member about mass shootings committed by transgender people at the outdoor event on the campus in Orem when he was hit by a single blast of gunfire.
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The conservative influencer jerked back and appeared to recoil in pain and grab at his neck as the crack of a single gunshot rang out from the crowd, sending thousands of spectators into a panic, dramatic video from the scene showed.
Officers from at least four law enforcement agencies were involved in the manhunt, including the FBI, the Orem Police, the Utah Department of Public Safety and the Utah Valley University Police.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced hours after the cold-blooded murder that a person of interest was in custody, then later said he had been released after questioning. That person was not the same one as being eyed now.
The FBI had also released a tipline on Wednesday evening, urging attendees to come forward with more information and footage of the event and on Thursday offered up to a $100,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s identification and capture.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” President Trump wrote in a mournful post on Truth Social after news of Kirk’s death spread.
He later said he was “filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk” in a video posted on the platform.
Stay up to date on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
“Charlie inspired millions. And tonight, all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” the president said, adding that Kirk is now a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
“This is a dark moment for America,” Trump added.
After he was shot, Kirk was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery, a nurse told longtime friend and former employee Laci Williams, who relayed that information to The Post and later confirmed reports he had died.
The popular activist was best known for his open mic “Prove Me Wrong” debates on college campuses where community members could challenge his views.
He was in the middle of one of those debates as part of his “American Comeback Tour” when he was gunned down.
Kirk leaves behind his wife, former Miss Arizona Erika Frantzve, and two young children.
“This is a dark day for our state, it’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.
“I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty in the state of Utah.”
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