Authorities began a third day searching for the sniper who killed conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at a Utah college.
The suspected gunman was captured on surveillance video running across the roof of a Utah Valley University building and jumping to the ground. Kirk was killed after being struck in the neck with a single shot.
Law enforcement is circulating the video as well as photos of the suspect — who was last seen wearing blue jeans, a baseball cap, Converse shoes and a long-sleeved black T-shirt that appeared to show an American flag and an eagle. Anyone with information is encouraged to come forward.
More than 7,000 tips have been submitted to the FBI, according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. But on Thursday evening Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, told MSNBC that authorities still “have no idea” where Kirk’s killer is.
The suspected murder weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was recovered in a wooded area near a parking lot, said Robert Bohls, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office. Mason said the suspect was seen running to that area after getting down from the roof.
Kirk was a fierce conservative and an enormously influential figure in American politics, with a combined 25.6 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. He was known for challenging left-wing orthodoxies in lively debates on college campuses and clung strongly to his Christian faith, arguing that there should be no division between church and state in America.
Kirk’s assassination sparked fierce backlash from conservative leaders, including President Trump, who blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for his death. On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance traveled from Utah to Phoenix aboard Air Force Two with Kirk’s family to bring the activist’s casket home.
On Thursday evening, hundreds gathered in a park in Orem, Utah, to remember and honor Kirk.
The multi-generational crowd held American flags, pushed children in strollers and donned “Make America Great Again” hats while they prayed and sang together.
“Come together in light,” Mayor David Young said to the crowd. “Violence has no place here.”
The mourners sang along to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” and participated in a group prayer.
“This is the healing that we needed,” said Klea Harris, whose children helped organize the event.
More than a hundred people lined up with flowers, candles and flags, waiting for their turn to place them before a memorial that centered on a larger-than-life photo of Kirk.
“It’s important that we don’t turn on each other in this moment,” said Jason Preston, a conservative podcast host. He received rousing applause when he told the crowd: “This is not a battle of right versus left, this is a battle of good versus evil.”
Earlier in the day, young conservatives gathered on campus, hanging red banners in honor of Kirk’s Republican ideology and carrying posters with phrases such as “We are not afraid” and “Charlie Kirk, American hero.”
“I think this kind of woke a sleeping giant,” said UVU student Jillian Green, 20. “People are outraged and very upset that he [was killed] when he was advocating for so many of us.”
Koby Herrera, a fellow student at the university, also felt that the death could mark a shift in political history, noting that it could further raise Kirk’s influence.
“He had a voice, and I feel like his voice is bigger now that he’s in the grave,” said Herrera, 22.
Kirk held huge sway over young Republicans, and key members of the Trump administration credited him with helping them secure the GOP’s 2024 electoral victory.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
