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Regulation enforcement officers arrested the person accused of capturing and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah on Friday after a frantic 33-hour manhunt. The suspect’s destiny now hinges on whether or not the state pursues capital prices as political stress mounts.
Prosecutors haven’t but filed prices in opposition to Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of killing Kirk after driving almost 4 hours to Utah Valley College, the place the longtime Trump ally was talking. It additionally stays unclear whether or not they may search the demise penalty, a step publicly urged by each President Donald Trump and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
At a Friday information convention, Cox stated investigators used surveillance footage from the stadium and ideas from Robinson’s household and associates to determine him earlier than the arrest. He additionally stated prices could be filed “quickly.”
“We acquired him,” Cox stated.
‘THIS IS ON ALL OF US’: LAWMAKERS TAKE HARD LOOK AT HOW POLITICAL RHETORIC PLAYED ROLE IN KIRK’S ASSASSINATION
Utah Governor Spencer Cox and FBI Director Kash Patel arrive at a press convention concerning the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley College in Orem, Utah on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Julia Bonavita/Fox Information Digital)
The governor vowed that Robinson could be “held accountable” for Kirk’s demise, which he known as a “political assassination.”
“That is actually concerning the tragic demise, assassination, political assassination of Charlie Kirk, however it is usually a lot larger than an assault on a person,” Cox stated. “It’s an assault on all of us. It’s an assault on the American experiment.”
Kirk’s graphic demise and the scant public data revealed in its wake have left the nation reeling and revived heated debate about political violence within the U.S. It is also sparked a litany of questions on how prosecutors will carry the case in opposition to Robinson, with Utah regulation and years of precedent making capital punishment tough to pursue.
ENGRAVINGS ON SHOOTER’S AMMO EXPOSES CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION MOTIVE
Turning Level USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at Desert Diamond Area on August 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona (Rebecca Noble/Getty Pictures)
Robinson is being held at Utah County Jail. A possible trigger affidavit reviewed by Fox Information Digital lists potential prices together with aggravated homicide, felony discharge of a firearm inflicting severe damage and obstruction of justice.
Utah regulation permits prosecutors to hunt the demise penalty solely in circumstances the place a person is charged with “aggravated homicide” — or a homicide that knowingly “created an incredible threat of demise” to a different particular person in addition to the sufferer or defendant. The offense is listed within the affidavit, which may open the door for prosecutors to hunt the demise penalty.
The clock is ticking: Utah regulation requires state prosecutors to file a particular discover of intent inside 60 days after a person is arraigned on aggravated homicide prices to inform the courtroom and protection attorneys that they plan to strive the case as a capital felony. Doing so units into movement a posh authorized course of — together with a two-part, or bifurcated trial, to resolve each guilt and whether or not the defendant ought to obtain capital punishment.
In any other case, the case is tried beneath prices of a “noncapitalist fist-degree penalty,” eligible for a most sentence of life in jail with out parole.
TRUMP SAYS SLAIN CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST CHARLIE KIRK WAS ‘LIKE A SON’ TO HIM IN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE
Throughout a latest Fox Information Channel interview, President Donald Trump praised the values and affect of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Mark Wilson/Getty)
Cox and Trump each prompt in interviews earlier this week that the state ought to search the demise penalty in opposition to Kirk’s killer, even earlier than Robinson was named as a suspect.
“I hope he will get the demise penalty,” Trump stated Friday morning on “Fox & Mates,” calling Kirk “the best particular person.”
The Beehive State is one among 27 states that also permits the demise penalty, in accordance with the Dying Penalty Info Heart. It is also one among simply 5 states the place execution by firing squad stays authorized.
SECRET SERVICE UNDER PRESSURE: WHAT KIRK’S ASSASSINATION MEANS FOR TRUMP’S SECURITY
Reserving pictures for Tyler Robinson, 22, the suspect within the Utah assassination of Turning Level USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. (Utah Gov. Spencer Cox)
Even so, capital punishment circumstances are hardly ever pursued in Utah. The state has carried out solely two executions previously 20 years, and inmates spend a mean of 34 years on demise row.
Solely 4 males are at the moment on demise row in Utah, every for “a long time,” in accordance with KUTV.
For Robinson, whose legal trial will draw nationwide consideration, significantly from the president and his allies, it is nonetheless far too early to foretell the result.
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Already, Robinson’s case has fueled intense hypothesis — at the same time as some lawmakers urged calm.
“Historical past will dictate if it is a turning level for our nation,” Cox stated, “however each single one among us will get to decide on proper now if it is a turning level for us.”
