Authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a 22-year-old Utah man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, unveiling disturbing new details about a targeted killing that has sent shockwaves through American politics and reignited alarms over the nation’s spiraling epidemic of political violence.

The suspect, Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody late Thursday night after days of frantic searching that saw the FBI and state officials release photos, video, and a cash reward appeal to the public. President Donald Trump first disclosed the arrest on Fox News, saying “with a high degree of certainty, we have him.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed Robinson’s identity Friday morning at a press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel. He said Robinson is believed to have acted alone but described the assassination as “an attack on the American experiment,” urging Americans to “choose a different path.”

“This is much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us,” Cox said, calling the killing “an attack on the very foundation of who we are.”

According to Cox, Robinson had grown “more political” in the weeks leading up to the shooting and had expressed to family and friends his opposition to Kirk’s views. After the assassination, Robinson reportedly indicated to a family friend that he was responsible.

Investigators cited engravings on bullet casings found in a high-powered rifle near the scene and chat messages on a messaging app that Robinson’s roommate provided to law enforcement as critical pieces of evidence. The bizarre inscriptions on the ammunition included taunts such as, “hey fascist! catch!” and references to the World War II-era Italian partisan anthem “Bella Ciao.”

Authorities said Robinson’s father recognized him in surveillance photos released Thursday and, working with a local pastor, persuaded him to surrender peacefully.

Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA and a rising star in conservative politics, was gunned down in broad daylight on Wednesday as he addressed a student crowd at Utah Valley University. The gunman fired a single shot from a rooftop, striking Kirk in the neck as he answered a question on gun violence. Video of the shooting, widely circulated online, showed Kirk collapsing in front of stunned attendees as panic swept the courtyard.

The shooter then fled across campus, climbing down from the roof and disappearing into nearby woods. Authorities said the precision of the attack and the escape highlighted the vulnerability of public events, particularly on open college campuses.

The killing has drawn bipartisan outrage. Trump, who ordered flags flown at half-staff through Sunday, described Kirk as “a good person” and pledged to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” the president said.

Vice President JD Vance, who escorted Kirk’s body aboard Air Force Two to Phoenix on Thursday, praised his longtime ally as a force behind the GOP’s 2024 victory. “So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance said in a statement.

Cox, speaking emotionally, lashed out at the role of social media in amplifying both extremism and trauma. “Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” he said, decrying the spread of graphic video of the shooting. “It is not good to consume. It is not good for us.”

Kirk’s assassination comes on the heels of two attempts on Trump’s life in 2024 and a string of other politically motivated attacks across the country, raising urgent questions about the adequacy of security for high-profile figures.

“This is part of a disturbing pattern,” said an FBI counterterrorism official, pointing to growing threats from lone actors radicalized online. “The barriers between rhetoric, grievance, and violence are eroding.”

At Utah Valley University, students who barricaded themselves inside classrooms during the shooting returned Friday to a shaken campus. A canopy bearing Kirk’s trademark slogan — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood disheveled in the courtyard where the killing unfolded, now transformed into a vigil site lined with flowers and candles.

Kirk’s funeral arrangements have not been announced, but Trump has said he plans to attend. His widow, Erika, has remained out of the public eye since the attack.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)