FBI confirms manhunt still underway for Charlie Kirk’s assassin: LIVE UPDATES

“The last thing you do is silence Charlie Kirk by shooting Charlie Kirk,” former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has told RT, condemning the killing as a grave threat to America’s tradition of open debate. Citing death threats he has personally received, Ritter described today’s climate as “a poisonous environment” where controversial figures require security simply to speak.

“Ostensibly, we have free speech. I mean, nobody denied Charlie Kirk the opportunity to speak. They just murdered him because he chose to speak publicly,” Ritter said. “The second people become intimidated by the consequences of their speech, not the ideological consequences, but the physical consequences of their speech, that has a chilling effect on it.”

Another video circulating on social media shows the moments leading up to Charlie Kirk’s shooting from a different angle, with an attendee asking him: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”

Kirk responded, “Too many,” as the crowd applauded. The person then followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk replied, just before a gunshot rang out and struck him in the neck. Kirk could be seen falling back in his chair as hundreds of people ran away in panic.

RT contributor and former US Senate aide Tara Reade has warned that the “shocking political violence in America right now is really frightening,” as she reacted to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Reade said Kirk’s death marked “a huge loss for everyone in America and in the world.”

She also criticized what she described as dismissive reactions in the liberal media, singling out MSNBC for “saying that somehow he brought this on himself.”

Reade praised Kirk as a “really good man” who “gave a forum for young people to actually debate in a peaceful way.” She stressed that he was “very educated” and “genuine,” noting that he was the same person “whether the mic [was] on or off.”

Investigators said the shooting was a targeted attack. The gunman is believed to have fired from the roof of a campus building overlooking the student courtyard where Kirk was speaking. UVU police said six officers were stationed at the event, in addition to Kirk’s personal security team. About 3,000 people were in attendance at the outdoor quad when the single fatal shot was fired.

Several videos circulating on social media appear to show a person on the roof of a building at the Utah Valley University campus, where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. The individual who filmed one of the clips told the New York Times that he began recording moments before the shooting, with the footage showing people taking cover.

Another video appeared to show a person dressed in dark clothing lying on the roof.

Law enforcement agencies have said that multiple crime scenes are under investigation. The Utah State Crime Lab and local law enforcement are analyzing the area where Kirk was struck, as well as other sites linked to the movement of both the victim and the suspect. Authorities have asked the public to submit any information through an FBI tip line.

The FBI has officially confirmed that neither of the two people taken into custody earlier in the day had any connection to the deadly shooting of Charlie Kirk. One man, George Zinn, was charged with obstruction by university police after the shooting, while a second, Zachariah Qureshi, was questioned and released.

“There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals. There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter,” the FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety said in a joint statement.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a tribute to Charlie Kirk, calling him “our country’s relentless and courageous crusader for free speech.”

“Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era. My dear friend Charlie Kirk was our country’s relentless and courageous crusader for free speech. We pray for Erika and the children. Charlie is already in paradise with the angels. We ask his prayers for our country,” Kennedy wrote on X.

Kennedy’s statement carried a personal weight given his own family history – his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were both assassinated in the 1960s.

In honor of the “truly Great American Patriot,” President Trump has ordered all American flags across the United States to be flown at half-mast until Sunday.

First lady Melania Trump called for “compassionate awareness,” mourning on behalf of Charlie Kirk’s two young children.