The man charged in the killing of Charlie Kirk, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had previously told family members he opposed the activist’s views and had grown more political in the weeks before the shooting, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said. He cited evidence including engravings on bullets found in a rifle believed to have been used, and chat messages from a roommate that investigators had access to. Cox described the incident as a political assassination and urged a new generation to take a different path.

Robinson is believed to have acted alone, and the investigation remains ongoing, Cox added. Kirk was killed by a single shot during a targeted attack while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem. The shooter used a high-powered bolt-action rifle and fled the scene after jumping from a roof into nearby woodland.

President Donald Trump disclosed the arrest in a Fox News interview, saying there was a high degree of certainty that authorities had the suspect. The FBI and state officials had previously released photographs of the person believed to be responsible. Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA, a youth political organisation based in Arizona. His coffin was flown to Phoenix on Air Force Two, and Trump said he planned to attend the funeral. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited the Kirk family in Salt Lake City. Video footage released earlier showed the suspect moving across grass and across a street before vanishing.