ByMichael Koziol
Washington: The FBI has released a new surveillance video showing the man they believe assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk jumping off a rooftop and making his getaway in the moments after the shooting.
A massive manhunt is still under way for a suspect described by police as being of “college age”. Officials also released more photos in addition to two CCTV images made public earlier in the day as they appealed to the public for tips.
The FBI announced a $US100,000 ($150,000) reward for information leading to identification of the shooter, while Utah’s Republican Governor, Spencer Cox, confirmed the state was preparing to seek the death penalty.
The new video released Thursday night, US time, showed a man running across a low-rise rooftop – the Losee Centre building at Utah Valley University, where Kirk had been speaking – before carefully jumping off the edge. He then moved quickly through a small grassed area beside a parking lot, and towards a road.
Utah public safety commissioner Beau Mason said the suspect left palm impressions on the roof as he fled. He was wearing what looked to be a long-sleeved T-shirt emblazoned with an American flag and an eagle, as well as grey and white Converse shoes.
In the later news conference on Thursday night, officials gave no update as to progress on tracking down the suspect, and took no questions.
Earlier, Mason said authorities had tracked the suspect’s movements in the minutes leading up to the assassination. He arrived at the campus at 11.52am on Wednesday, Utah time – about half an hour before the shooting – and moved via stairwells to a rooftop from where he allegedly fired a single bullet.
“The subject blended in well with the college institution … That individual appears to be of college age,” Mason said.
FBI special agent Robert Bohls said officers had recovered a high-powered bolt action rifle they believed was used by the shooter. It was recovered from a nearby wooded area where the suspect had fled.
“We’re doing everything we can to find him. We’re not sure how far he has gone,” Bohls said.
Trump hails Kirk as ‘a giant of his generation’
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance travelled to Salt Lake City to meet Kirk’s grieving family members. He then flew them and a casket containing the 31-year-old’s body back to Phoenix, Arizona on Air Force Two.
President Donald Trump spoke to Kirk’s family by phone, noting they were “absolutely devastated”. Kirk had a wife, Erika, and two young children. Trump said he intended to attend the funeral.
The assassination of the prominent conservative activist, evangelical Christian and key Trump ally has rocked American politics, particularly among Republicans and Trump’s MAGA base.
Trump announced he would posthumously award Kirk the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “He was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Trump said.
Speaking at the Pentagon in Washington at a memorial for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Trump said the US was a nation that would always honour its heroes.
“There’s a group of people that don’t want to talk about our heroes, but we will always talk about our heroes,” he said. “We will defend the nation they serve, the values they upheld and the freedom for which they died. We will build taller, grow stronger, fight harder and soar higher.”
Kirk was fatally shot while appearing at the first stop on a speaking tour of college campuses, in which he was to invite opponents to debate him on stage. The assassination has again put focus on America’s problem with political violence.
The moment Charlie Kirk is shot
Footage shows the crowds gathered in front of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, when suddenly they start to flee.
It follows the assassination of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota three months ago, alongside an attempt on the life of her colleague, an arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro and the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally last year.
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“This is a dark moment for America,” Trump said in a video message to the nation on Wednesday night, Washington time. “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonising those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible.”
The president went on to blame the “radical left” for comparing Kirk to Nazis and mass murderers – rhetoric he said was “directly responsible for the terrorism we are seeing in our country today”.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s team was tightening security following Kirk’s assassination.
The September 11 ceremony was moved to a more secure location, while additional measures will be in place when Trump attends a baseball game on Thursday evening in New York, according to the report.
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Beyond this week’s events, Trump’s team was having broader discussions about how to increase the president’s security, the Journal added.
Meanwhile, several historically Black colleges and universities on Thursday placed students and staff under lockdown, citing potential threats. Spelman College, Hampton University, Virginia State University, Bethune Cookman University, Southern University and Alabama State University were among those that suspended classes and required students living on campus to shelter in place.
