Jesse Weber and Tracy Walder Break Down FBI Investigation Into Charlie Kirk Assassination at Utah Valley University

[00:00] The FBI has just released this photo of

[00:02] a person of interest in connection with

[00:04] the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk

[00:06] from yesterday. And this comes as they

[00:08] provided new updates and evidence today

[00:10] as they raced to find this assassin. The

[00:13] conservative influencer was in the

[00:14] middle of debating a member of the

[00:16] public during an outdoor event at Utah

[00:18] Valley University when a single bullet

[00:20] ripped through his neck. Chaos,

[00:22] confusion, a shot that has been heard

[00:25] around the world. We are going to break

[00:26] down what we just heard with former FBI

[00:29] and CIA agent Tracy Walder. Welcome to

[00:32] Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm

[00:35] Jesse Weber.

[00:36] [Music]

[00:39] Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Turning

[00:42] Point USA, a stalwart friend to some of

[00:45] the most well-positioned people in our

[00:47] government, and yes, a controversial

[00:49] online presence with millions of

[00:50] followers, is dead at the age of 31.

[00:54] This is a dark day for our country. I

[00:57] talked about this on social media

[00:59] yesterday. I'm going to say it again. We

[01:02] cover some of the worst evils in this

[01:04] country almost daily. And I was still

[01:07] sickened and shocked and disgusted by

[01:09] what I saw yesterday. And I just tell

[01:11] everybody out there, please think about

[01:13] and pray for Charlie Kirk's family and

[01:17] friends because they are now left with

[01:19] the new reality of pain and loss and

[01:22] confusion that victim's family members

[01:24] deal with every day in this country.

[01:26] This married father of two, he is

[01:29] credited with rallying young Republican

[01:31] voters during the 2024 presidential

[01:33] election. He had this famous debate

[01:35] style events at colleges around the

[01:37] country, drawing praise from some,

[01:39] criticism from others, and this was his

[01:42] final one. It was during one of those

[01:44] college events on Wednesday that Kirk

[01:46] was shot and killed. And again, we are

[01:47] about to get into what the FBI just

[01:50] said, but it appears based on their

[01:52] comments that this may be a lone gunman,

[01:55] a lone gunman who was at top a roof near

[01:57] the heart of Utah Valley University's

[01:59] campus in Orum. And we are learning

[02:01] again new details about that shooter

[02:03] right now from public safety officials

[02:06] and the FBI. We are going to show you

[02:07] the brand new press footage. And I'm

[02:09] going to be bringing on former FBI and

[02:11] CIA agent Tracy Walder to break down

[02:13] what these new developments mean, the

[02:15] potential evidence, how they're going to

[02:17] analyze it. Are we closer to actually

[02:19] catching the suspected shooter? We'll

[02:21] talk about it, but here's what we know.

[02:22] You had event goers who were lined up in

[02:24] an outdoor area to ask this conservative

[02:27] activist questions. questions about

[02:29] things like gun violence and gender

[02:31] identity and Kirk has this often, you

[02:34] know, these answers that are booming

[02:35] over a microphone at the quad. There's a

[02:38] lot of political excitement there. Um,

[02:40] but again, controversial figure and the

[02:42] New York Times reports that 3,000 people

[02:44] had turned out to see Kirk speak as he

[02:47] started another round of college tours.

[02:49] This one was called the American

[02:50] Comeback. Now, Kirk was seated

[02:52] underneath a canopy. He was surrounded

[02:54] by these metal barricades with his own

[02:56] personal security nearby. We can have a

[02:59] separate conversation and maybe we will

[03:01] about potentially the lack of security.

[03:03] But as scene in videos that were posted

[03:05] to social media, a member of the public

[03:07] standing just a few feet away was

[03:09] questioning Kirk about recent gun

[03:11] violence in America.

[03:13] >> So, do you know how many transgender

[03:14] Americans have been mass shooters over

[03:16] the last 10 years?

[03:18] >> Too many.

[03:19] [Applause]

[03:25] It's five. Okay. Now, five is a lot,

[03:27] right? I'm going to give you I'm going

[03:27] to give you some credit. Do you do you

[03:29] know how many mass shooters there have

[03:30] been in America over the last 10 years?

[03:33] >> Counting or not counting gang violence.

[03:35] >> And at that moment, there was the sound

[03:37] of a single gunshot and Charlie Kirk

[03:40] fell. If you've seen the videos online,

[03:42] they are awful. We have seen this video.

[03:45] It was taken by people in the crowd. It

[03:48] shows the moment that a bullet literally

[03:50] tore through Kirk's neck, sending him

[03:53] sprawling to the ground. It is horrific.

[03:55] He was carried to a nearby vehicle. He

[03:58] was rushed to the hospital. It was only

[04:00] a few miles away, but he was pronounced

[04:02] dead. And Utah officials would later say

[04:04] that they believe that this was a

[04:06] targeted attack. One bullet, one victim.

[04:09] Now, people at the vent, they scattered

[04:11] in all directions. They were screaming.

[04:13] They were falling over another. They

[04:14] were falling over one another. They were

[04:16] trying to figure out where the shots

[04:17] were coming from and if more bullets

[04:19] would be fired. The shooter was

[04:21] reportedly on the roof of a nearby

[04:22] campus building, the Losi Center. It's

[04:24] about 150 to 200 yards away from the

[04:27] gathering on the quad and an unverified

[04:29] video that was posted to social media.

[04:32] It appears to show a person laying down

[04:36] on top of the building. Now, law

[04:38] enforcement has not confirmed this

[04:40] video, nor have they said this figure on

[04:41] the roof is the shooter. But let's talk

[04:44] about what they did say. Okay, this is

[04:45] new. So, Utah's Commissioner of Public

[04:47] Safety and the FBI special agent in

[04:49] charge of the investigation provided

[04:51] brand new updates Thursday morning about

[04:54] the gunman and that is what we want to

[04:55] talk about right now. So, what have they

[04:57] learned about him so far? How was he

[05:00] able to get away? Take a look.

[05:02] >> Through all that work last night, we

[05:03] were able to make a few few

[05:05] breakthroughs. Um, we were able to track

[05:08] the movements of the shooter. Starting

[05:11] at 11:52 a.m., the subject arrived on

[05:15] campus, shortly away from campus. We

[05:17] have tracked his movements onto the

[05:19] campus, through the stairwells, up to

[05:22] the roof, across the roof to a shooting

[05:24] location.

[05:26] After the shooting, we were able to

[05:28] track his movements as he moved to the

[05:30] other side of the building, jumped off

[05:32] of the building, and fled um off of the

[05:36] campus and into a neighborhood. Our

[05:38] investigators have worked through those

[05:40] neighborhoods, contacting anybody they

[05:42] can with doorbell cameras, um, witnesses

[05:46] and and have have thoroughly worked

[05:48] through that those communities um,

[05:50] trying to identify any leads.

[05:53] We do have good video footage of this

[05:55] individual. We are not going to release

[05:57] that at this time. Uh, we are working

[06:00] through some technologies and some some

[06:02] ways to identify this individual. If we

[06:05] are unsuccessful, we will reach out to

[06:06] you as the media and we will push that

[06:08] publicly to help us identify them. But

[06:10] we are confident in our abilities right

[06:12] now and we would like to move forward uh

[06:15] in a manner that keeps everyone safe and

[06:17] moves this process appropriately.

[06:19] >> And the FBI also revealed they found the

[06:23] suspected murder weapon.

[06:25] >> This morning I can tell you that we have

[06:26] recovered what we believe is the weapon

[06:29] to be that was used in yesterday's

[06:30] shooting. is a high-powered bolt-action

[06:33] rifle.

[06:35] That rifle was was recovered in a wooded

[06:38] area where the shooter had fled. So, the

[06:41] FBI laboratory will be analyzing this

[06:43] weapon.

[06:45] Investigators have also collected

[06:47] footwear impression, a palm print, and

[06:50] forearm imprints for analysis.

[06:54] Now, I understand there are a lot of

[06:55] questions about motive.

[06:58] I assure you that all leads, tips, and

[07:01] tips are being fully investigated. As of

[07:04] this morning, we have received more than

[07:06] 130 tips. We thank the community for

[07:08] that.

[07:10] The FBI has brought every resource to

[07:12] bear, and we will continue to do so

[07:14] throughout the course of this

[07:15] investigation.

[07:17] >> Also, this is just coming out from the

[07:18] Wall Street Journal. They're reporting

[07:20] that the ammunition that was used by

[07:23] Charlie Kirk's killer, it may have been

[07:25] engraved with transgender and

[07:28] anti-fascist ideology. If that is true,

[07:31] that makes a potential motivation for

[07:34] this killing a lot more clear, but we

[07:36] will see. We'll get more updates on

[07:38] that. Now, while officials aren't

[07:39] releasing very many details about the

[07:41] shooter's identity, they implied that he

[07:44] was able to blend in with a crowd on a

[07:46] college campus. So, what I'll release

[07:48] about the suspect is uh

[07:52] suspect blended in well with with a

[07:54] college institution. Um we're not

[07:57] releasing many details right now and we

[07:59] we will soon. Um but right now we're

[08:02] not, but that that individual um appears

[08:04] to be of of college age. Um we are

[08:08] confident in our abilities to to track

[08:10] that individual if we're unsuccessful in

[08:12] identifying them immediately.

[08:14] >> It's very very interesting. And the

[08:16] public safety commissioner also pointed

[08:17] out the importance of today's date,

[08:19] right, for American history, September

[08:21] 11th, and how law enforcement is once

[08:23] again coming together with one goal.

[08:26] >> Historically on 911, law enforcement has

[08:28] come together as a group to recognize

[08:30] and honor those that sacrificed

[08:34] to preserve the ideals of this country,

[08:37] the freedoms of this country. And

[08:39] instead we find ourselves today hunting

[08:42] a murderer

[08:44] who chose to violate our rights, the

[08:47] rights of an individual within this

[08:49] country.

[08:49] >> Now again, I'm going to bring on Tracy.

[08:51] We're going to talk about what all this

[08:53] means. But the FBI and other agencies,

[08:57] they are actively working to try to

[08:59] track down this shooter. But there is

[09:01] misinformation. There is

[09:02] misidentification. They have run it has

[09:05] run rampant so far. And and just minutes

[09:08] after the shooting, there were details

[09:10] that started circulating online about an

[09:12] arrest. There were images on social

[09:14] media showing an older man being hauled

[09:16] away by multiple people. And soon,

[09:18] officials would put out a statement

[09:19] saying that this man was not the

[09:22] shooter. He was arrested. He was

[09:23] arrested for obstruction, but he's not

[09:25] the shooter. And then hours later, FBI

[09:28] director Cash Patel posted on X,

[09:30] formerly known as Twitter, that the

[09:32] subject for the horrific shooting today

[09:34] that took the life of Charlie Kirk, is

[09:35] now in custody. But not long after that,

[09:38] the director kind of clarified, saying,

[09:40] "The subject in custody has been

[09:42] released after an interrogation by law

[09:44] enforcement. Our investigation

[09:45] continues, and we will continue to

[09:47] release information in the interest of

[09:49] transparency." Now, the public safety

[09:51] commissioner pointed out that those

[09:52] people do not deserve to be targeted in

[09:55] person or online.

[09:57] >> Yesterday, during the investigative

[09:58] process, we located a couple of persons

[10:00] of interest. We interviewed those

[10:02] individuals

[10:04] and after releasing them and after

[10:05] clearing them of any suspects.

[10:08] They faced scrutiny. They faced threats.

[10:11] We asked the public to be patient with

[10:14] the investigative process. These

[10:16] individuals were not suspects. they were

[10:19] people of interest. Um, we ask that you

[10:21] do not impose into those in those people

[10:25] and that investigative process. They

[10:27] don't deserve that harassment for for

[10:29] being subject to that.

[10:30] >> And that does make you wonder, is that

[10:32] why they are not releasing video of the

[10:35] suspected shooter. We're going to talk

[10:36] about that. Now, there have been

[10:39] makeshift memorials that have sprung up

[10:41] on campus, and some people gathered at

[10:43] the state capital in Salt Lake City to

[10:45] remember Charlie Kirk. Others paid

[10:47] tribute at Turning Point USA's

[10:49] headquarters out in Arizona. President

[10:51] Donald Trump, who was one of the first

[10:53] people to confirm that Kirk had indeed

[10:54] died, spoke from the Oval Office

[10:56] Wednesday night. Charlie was a patriot

[10:59] who devoted his life to the cause of

[11:02] open debate and the country that he

[11:04] loved so much, the United States of

[11:06] America. He fought for liberty,

[11:08] democracy, justice, and the American

[11:11] people. He's a martyr for truth and

[11:13] freedom. And there's never been anyone

[11:16] who was so respected by youth. This is a

[11:19] dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk

[11:23] traveled the nation joyfully engaging

[11:26] with everyone interested in good faith

[11:29] debate. His mission was to bring young

[11:32] people into the political process, which

[11:34] he did better than anybody ever, to

[11:38] share his love of country and to spread

[11:41] the simple words of common sense. On

[11:44] campuses nationwide, he championed his

[11:47] ideas with courage, logic, humor, and

[11:50] grace. It's long past time for all

[11:53] Americans and the media to confront the

[11:56] fact that violence and murder are the

[11:59] tragic consequence of demonizing those

[12:02] with whom you disagree day after day,

[12:05] year after year in the most hateful and

[12:08] despicable way possible. My

[12:10] administration will find each and every

[12:12] one of those who contributed to this

[12:14] atrocity and to other political

[12:17] violence, including the organizations

[12:19] that fund it and support it, as well as

[12:22] those who go after our judges, law

[12:25] enforcement officials, and everyone else

[12:27] who brings order to our country. And by

[12:31] the way, the president just announced

[12:32] that he is giving Charlie Kirk the Medal

[12:34] of Freedom postuously. Tributes have

[12:37] also poured in on social media.

[12:39] Political adviser Steven Miller posted

[12:41] on X, "Our hearts are shattered. America

[12:43] has lost one of its greatest champions.

[12:45] A loving family has lost the most

[12:46] extraordinary husband and father. All of

[12:48] us must now dedicate ourselves to

[12:50] defeating the evil that stole Charlie

[12:53] from this world." Again, FBI director

[12:54] Cash Patel, who was close with Kirk,

[12:56] wrote on his personal exac account,

[12:58] "Rest in peace, my friend. Conservative

[13:00] titan Charlie Kirk. I am praying for

[13:02] Charlie and his family. His passion for

[13:04] American and fearless leadership

[13:06] inspired millions and his impact will

[13:08] live on in this movement for

[13:10] generations. Former President Barack

[13:11] Obama posted on X. We don't yet know

[13:14] what motivated the person who shot and

[13:16] killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of

[13:17] despicable violence has no place in our

[13:20] democracy. Michelle and I will be

[13:22] praying for Charlie's family tonight,

[13:23] especially his wife Erica and their two

[13:25] young children. And as people were

[13:28] fleeing the school, armed law

[13:29] enforcement officers, they were pouring

[13:31] in. They were going from building to

[13:33] building to help escort people to

[13:35] safety. And just before 9:00 p.m.

[13:36] Eastern time, school officials gave the

[13:39] all clear, saying there is no ongoing

[13:41] threat to the campus. Utah Valley

[13:43] University announced that classes were

[13:45] cancelled, that the school will be

[13:46] closed until at least Monday. You know,

[13:49] we've been on top of the story from the

[13:50] very, very beginning. And we're able to

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[14:47] Okay, so I want to break down what all

[14:49] of this means. This presser just ended

[14:51] and we're bringing on right now former

[14:53] CIA and FBI agent, friend of the show,

[14:56] Tracy Walder. Tracy, thank you so much

[14:58] for coming on. really appreciate it. So,

[15:00] let's just talk about what we heard here

[15:02] from this presser. They were able to

[15:04] track the movements of the shooter,

[15:06] saying that the shooter arrived on

[15:07] campus at 11:52,

[15:10] tracking the movements through the

[15:11] stairwell to the roof. They find the

[15:14] shooting location, saying the shooter

[15:16] jumped off the building after the

[15:19] shooting, fled into the neighborhood,

[15:21] that they start canvasing the

[15:23] neighborhood, looking for doorbell

[15:24] footage, uh contacting anyone that has

[15:27] footage. They have confirmed they have

[15:30] video footage of the shooter, but they

[15:32] are not going to release it and they are

[15:34] working on ways to ID this person.

[15:37] Before we go any further into the

[15:38] revelations from this press conference,

[15:40] let's start there. What do you make of

[15:41] that police work and what what can we

[15:43] glean from that?

[15:44] >> Well, thank you so much for having me.

[15:46] Obviously, it's relatively quick police

[15:47] work in my opinion. I said yesterday

[15:50] that this was going to be a bit of a

[15:51] cumbersome process in a way. And I don't

[15:54] mean this in a bad way. You have too

[15:56] much digital evidence. You have 3,000

[15:58] college students, not all, but you have

[16:00] 3,000 college students who all have

[16:02] phones, all have videos. You have CCTV

[16:05] probably all over the school. That takes

[16:07] a long time to go through. So, what that

[16:10] tells me is it was probably all hands on

[16:12] deck, obviously, most of yesterday and

[16:14] then into today to review that footage.

[16:17] Also, what's interesting to me is it

[16:19] sounds just if he arrived at campus or

[16:22] the shooter arrived at campus at 11:52

[16:24] as they said in the press conference

[16:26] that this person was actually not laying

[16:28] in weight all that long. I mean, they

[16:31] they were laying in wait a bit, but not

[16:33] we're not talking hours or anything like

[16:35] that. And so, this is someone that knew

[16:38] obviously what was going to take place

[16:39] on the campus that day. knew, in my

[16:42] opinion, probably studied Charlie, how

[16:43] he spoke, how long he answered questions

[16:46] for um and was really prepared um in

[16:50] what they were doing,

[16:51] >> but also knew where Charlie was going to

[16:53] be positioned and knew exactly where to

[16:56] go. Like the idea of that roof 200 yards

[17:00] away, set up a position, that was

[17:02] planned. That that's what's eerie about

[17:04] it. It it doesn't I mean again we're

[17:06] just trying to take it piece by piece

[17:07] here but it doesn't seem that someone

[17:09] showed up and tried to figure out

[17:10] where's the best place to go. This feels

[17:13] very quick and very coordinated um and

[17:15] very planned.

[17:17] >> Oh yeah, there's no question. And I said

[17:18] that yesterday actually on on NewsNation

[17:20] that I think this took quite a bit of

[17:22] planning in my opinion. Um because the

[17:25] reality is I think they knew where the

[17:27] event would take place simply because it

[17:30] had been promoted beforehand. Um and

[17:32] they probably knew that that would be

[17:34] that I guess what they're calling

[17:36] fishbowl gathering place. So kind of

[17:37] think Las Vegas mass shooting. That also

[17:40] was sort of a fishbowl situation if you

[17:42] will. And they knew that he would

[17:44] probably be covered a bit with that

[17:46] pop-up tent. that's what he does tend to

[17:48] do in those outside settings, um, if you

[17:50] will. I believe this is a person that I

[17:54] do think if they go back had been on

[17:56] campus before, in my opinion, um, and

[17:59] had probably scoped out some of the

[18:01] buildings that they felt would be the

[18:03] best and the most opportune to take that

[18:05] shot. I

[18:06] >> I'll get to this weapon that apparently

[18:07] they recovered in a second, but what are

[18:09] the what's the technology? what is the

[18:11] ways they can work to ID this potential

[18:15] shooter from video footage?

[18:17] >> So, there's a couple ways. There's

[18:19] obviously facial recognition technology.

[18:21] Now, I don't know um how good it is with

[18:25] CCTV or with the Ring doorbell cameras,

[18:27] right? I I am not sure how clear of a

[18:30] picture they have of this individual.

[18:32] But one thing you also can do, and they

[18:34] actually did this with Manion that you

[18:36] brought up before, was menstruate this

[18:37] individual. How tall are they?

[18:40] Approximately how much do they weigh?

[18:42] You can actually glean all of that

[18:44] information from video footage, even

[18:46] CCTV video footage, which isn't good.

[18:49] >> Okay, let's talk about this weapon. They

[18:50] announced they've recovered a weapon, a

[18:52] boltaction rifle found in a wooded area

[18:56] where this alleged shooter had escaped.

[18:59] They are, the FBI announced they are

[19:00] analyzing this weapon. A Are you

[19:04] surprised that seems to be the weapon,

[19:06] the suspected murder weapon here? a

[19:07] bolt-action rifle based on what we saw

[19:09] and what we heard yesterday. B the fact

[19:12] of where it was recovered and why it was

[19:15] ultimately discarded and c um how do

[19:18] they analyze the weapon?

[19:20] >> So, I'm I'm actually not surprised that

[19:22] it was found. That would be the first

[19:23] thing quite frankly that someone in a

[19:25] situation like this would do. A

[19:26] bolt-action rifle isn't something that

[19:28] you're obviously going to be able to

[19:29] conceal um and run around with, right?

[19:32] Anyone would be sort of picking you off

[19:33] if they if they saw that. I'm not

[19:35] surprised. I said initially based on the

[19:36] sound that this was probably a rifle of

[19:39] some sort. I didn't even need to see it

[19:40] um to to hear that. It was pretty clear

[19:42] um in my opinion what kind of weapon

[19:44] this was. I'm not at all surprised it

[19:46] was discarded. I don't know how much

[19:48] evidence they're really going to get off

[19:49] of it. Again, as we talked about before,

[19:51] this person was very prepared. I I feel

[19:54] they probably had gloves on in some way,

[19:56] shape, or form. Probably had a hat on.

[19:58] Any hair uh was out of the way. So, I'll

[20:00] be surprised if it's fruitful uh in

[20:03] terms of identifying the individual, but

[20:05] obviously it would be used later at a

[20:07] trial or something like that.

[20:08] >> So, in other words, you you are hesitant

[20:11] to say they might be able to recover

[20:12] fingerprints from the weapon. However,

[20:14] can they find out where it was

[20:15] registered to? Can they find out who

[20:17] purchased it?

[20:18] >> Sure. Obviously, all of that is in play.

[20:21] Of course, I I'm just being honest. I

[20:25] would be very surprised if someone we

[20:26] talked about this of this kind of

[20:28] planned nature, right? scoping out the

[20:30] school, the situation, all of those

[20:32] things would use a weapon that was

[20:34] registered to them or didn't have the

[20:36] serial number already removed. Now,

[20:39] again, it's great when criminals make

[20:41] mistakes. So, maybe that is on there,

[20:43] but I would have thought that that would

[20:44] have been one of the first things they

[20:46] would have done was either remove the

[20:47] serial number or use a weapon that was

[20:49] stolen and not registered. The

[20:52] boltaction rifle is just is that tough

[20:55] to fire? If we're talking about firing

[20:57] it from a roof about 200 yards away,

[20:59] shooting Charlie Kirk in the neck, is

[21:02] that a tough shot? Is is are you saying

[21:04] there has to be a level of training um

[21:06] or what should we be thinking about in

[21:08] terms of this weapon?

[21:09] >> Yeah, I've been asked that question

[21:10] actually um a lot. Uh I think we want to

[21:14] think that this is some kind of a

[21:15] trained assassin. You know, maybe we see

[21:17] that in movies and that's something that

[21:18] we we want to see. Um, but the reality

[21:21] is is a 200 yard shot, which is about

[21:23] what this is. Again, I don't have the

[21:25] exact data, but a 200 yard shot. Um, I I

[21:28] believe he was probably aiming for the

[21:29] head, came in a little bit low, but

[21:31] again, I don't know for sure.

[21:33] >> This is someone who is familiar

[21:35] obviously with weapons. There's no

[21:36] question. I don't think if you've never

[21:38] held a weapon before, you would be able

[21:40] to do that. But this is someone that

[21:41] probably had a scope attached, had been

[21:43] sitting there for a few minutes, got the

[21:46] target in their sights, and got off that

[21:47] shot. So, I think it's someone who is

[21:50] moderately to highly familiar with

[21:51] weapons, but not some kind of a a

[21:54] trained assassin. Now, if you were

[21:55] talking about 600 yards or more, sure,

[21:57] but I don't feel that that's far enough

[22:00] for this to be some kind of a

[22:01] sharpshooter.

[22:02] >> Is a bolt-action rifle common? Do a lot

[22:05] of people own these?

[22:06] >> Yeah, I mean, I would I would say again,

[22:08] it depends on the area, right? I think

[22:10] if you're living in the middle of New

[22:11] York City, right, or or Los Angeles, no.

[22:14] But, um, this is Oram, Utah. There is

[22:17] wilderness. There are hunters. There are

[22:19] right there is a culture surrounding

[22:21] guns. I live in Texas. People have

[22:23] these. So I think it just depends to be

[22:25] completely honest with you um on where

[22:27] they live.

[22:28] >> Okay. They also indicated that they have

[22:30] recovered a footwear impression, a palm

[22:33] print, a forearm printer impression.

[22:37] Where I I how do they recover that? What

[22:39] do they do with that information? How do

[22:41] they ultimately process that to

[22:43] determine the identity of those people

[22:45] of that person? So, the footprint is

[22:47] going to be very similar to what we saw

[22:49] in the Brian Cobberger, Idaho case.

[22:51] Obviously, they're going to photograph

[22:52] it. They may even cast it, right, to get

[22:54] an actual impression um of that

[22:56] footprint and save it. Then, once they

[23:00] The problem is is, let's just say it's a

[23:02] Nike footprint. There are millions of

[23:03] people that own Nikes. And so, that's

[23:05] going to be something that might not

[23:06] help them immediately identify the

[23:08] individual, but may help them actually

[23:10] convict this individual if they find

[23:12] them and find that exact shoe print. So

[23:14] that's going to be good for evidence

[23:16] later in terms of obtaining a

[23:18] conviction. Now a palm print obviously

[23:20] is not the same as a fingerprint, right?

[23:22] It's not as there may not be a database

[23:24] registered for that, but what they may

[23:26] be able to recover off of that is DNA.

[23:29] And we know how great um obviously

[23:31] genealogical DNA has been uh in terms of

[23:34] identifying someone. So if this is not

[23:35] someone in the system, they may be able

[23:37] to do that with a palm print. And when

[23:40] they say that this is a person who

[23:41] blended in well with the college

[23:44] institution, what does that tell you?

[23:46] >> I mean, what that tells me, I believe,

[23:48] and I said this yesterday, that this

[23:50] person had every intention of using the

[23:51] college as cover for themselves. I mean,

[23:53] full stop. So, what that tells me is

[23:56] this is someone who at least looks like

[23:58] they belong on a college campus. So,

[24:00] we're talking 18 to maybe later 20s. U

[24:03] may not be, but looks that way. um

[24:05] someone who really wouldn't draw

[24:08] necessarily attention to themselves

[24:10] doesn't stick out uh in this situation.

[24:13] So someone saw this person walking, you

[24:15] know, to this building uh if you will.

[24:17] We also have to think about the fact

[24:18] that there could have been a change of

[24:20] clothes afterwards. They said they saw

[24:21] someone in all black clothing, you know,

[24:24] running away from that rooftop. This

[24:26] could have been someone who came to the

[24:27] college in, I guess, plain clothes, not

[24:29] all black necessarily, and then changed

[24:31] out afterwards to disguise themselves

[24:33] more. So, I think this is someone who

[24:35] definitely looked like they belonged

[24:37] there.

[24:37] >> If I remember correctly from the press

[24:39] conference, they they said they got what

[24:41] 130 tips. It's a lot. How do they sort

[24:43] through it to determine what's credible?

[24:45] >> You know, it's I don't mean to sound uh

[24:47] rude. It's a lot, but it's actually not

[24:48] as many as I thought. If you want me to

[24:50] be completely honest with you, Jesse, um

[24:52] I actually thought that we would have

[24:54] thousands uh simply because of the sheer

[24:56] volume, right, of how many students were

[24:58] there. Then you have a neighborhood,

[25:01] right, with Ring doorbell cameras, all

[25:03] of the things. You also have a public in

[25:05] this area who is probably on high alert

[25:07] and wants to help. And so I actually

[25:09] thought we would be in the thousands if

[25:11] you want me to be fully transparent. I'm

[25:13] not saying 130 is low. That's good.

[25:15] That's a great place to start. I'm just

[25:17] honestly surprised there's not more.

[25:19] >> Are you surprised the shooter hasn't

[25:21] been caught? I mean, this was a very

[25:23] public area. There wasn't a ton of

[25:26] security, right? They talk about maybe

[25:27] the lack of law enforcement, but they

[25:29] were quick on the scene after the

[25:30] shooting. Um, 3,000 people there,

[25:33] everybody had cameras. Um, are you

[25:36] surprised that the suspected shooter was

[25:38] not caught yet?

[25:40] >> Yeah, that's a touchy subject because

[25:41] yesterday I actually said uh on the news

[25:43] when they said they had caught someone

[25:45] and I think it was sort of an older

[25:47] white male that they had on the ground,

[25:49] I actually said I do not believe that

[25:51] this is the shooter. I believe it is too

[25:54] quick uh to capture him and I believe

[25:56] the shot came from the roof and everyone

[25:58] piled on me um for that and so I am

[26:02] actually not surprised that they haven't

[26:04] caught this individual. I think that

[26:06] this was highly planned. This person

[26:08] absolutely had an egress route and if

[26:10] this shot did come from the roof, it's

[26:12] not going to be someone who was able to

[26:14] be caught immediately on the ground

[26:16] exiting the scene.

[26:18] >> And I wanted your explanation about what

[26:20] happened yesterday. Uh there were

[26:21] reports about individuals who were

[26:23] detained, they were let go. FBI director

[26:25] Cash Patel uh saying that a subject was

[26:29] in custody but released after

[26:31] interrogation.

[26:32] I think there was a lot of confusion

[26:34] particularly online about where the day

[26:37] was going to end. Can you explain that a

[26:39] little bit more?

[26:41] >> I mean, I'm going to be completely

[26:42] honest. This isn't like political in any

[26:44] way. I would say this about any FBI

[26:46] director. I do not believe that they

[26:48] should be putting on social media until

[26:50] they know for certain that this is

[26:52] absolutely the individual because it

[26:55] does create confusion around the public

[26:57] and then what happens is people let

[26:58] their guards down and you may miss other

[27:01] tips um legitimate tips of individuals

[27:04] who really did perpetrate this. So I I

[27:07] wasn't a huge fan of that but I

[27:08] understand the need to want to arrest

[27:10] someone who did this. When you think

[27:13] about how the shooting happened, talking

[27:15] about shootings, Charlie Kirk was

[27:17] talking about shootings. The last word

[27:20] that he said before he was shot was

[27:23] violence. You see him get shot. Do you

[27:27] think this is a situation where it was

[27:29] one person acting alone or do you think

[27:32] it was coordinated and there was some

[27:34] help? I mean, it we don't know at this

[27:36] point. I've seen a lot of people talking

[27:38] online about what may or may not have

[27:40] happened. From your perspective, we

[27:43] talked about how it might have been

[27:44] planned. Would you suspect that there

[27:46] could be multiple people involved?

[27:49] >> So, I think so, but not in the sense

[27:50] that you may think, Jesse. So, what I

[27:53] actually think is there are these um

[27:56] well, they're from Telegram sub

[27:57] channels, those kinds of things on

[27:58] social media where individuals talk

[28:00] about this kind of thing and talk about

[28:02] this kind of violence. So, I 100% think

[28:04] that there were individuals in this chat

[28:06] room assisting um this person, goating

[28:10] this person on, wanting them to do it

[28:12] because that absolutely exists in this

[28:14] internet subculture. So, that's where I

[28:16] think these accompllices came from and

[28:18] that's what ultimately needs to be shut

[28:20] down.

[28:20] >> Real quick, all the videos, all the

[28:23] participants, does the FBI, does local

[28:26] law enforcement, uh do they try to

[28:28] interview all these people? Do they try

[28:30] to get all this footage? What happens?

[28:32] Yeah, that's a that's a tough one

[28:33] because like we said before, this is

[28:35] what 3,000ish

[28:37] uh students and it's real difficult to

[28:40] confiscate all of their cell phones,

[28:41] especially ones that ran away, right?

[28:43] So, my guess is what they're going to do

[28:44] is anyone they came into contact with,

[28:46] they probably took their phones or asked

[28:48] for their phones. Then also any video

[28:50] that they're seeing being leaked online,

[28:52] shared online, shared on social media,

[28:54] they're going to find that and they're

[28:55] going to find the person who did that.

[28:56] Not in a bad way, but they want that

[28:58] video. And so I think those are the

[29:00] things um that they're probably doing

[29:02] right now and yesterday.

[29:04] >> Tracy, before I let you go, before you

[29:06] have to jump back to News Nation and uh

[29:08] go and you're you're such a brilliant

[29:10] voice on this. Um do you have confidence

[29:13] that the shooter is going to be caught

[29:14] within the next few days?

[29:17] >> Oh gosh,

[29:19] I would like to hope so. My only concern

[29:22] is that this person has quite a bit of

[29:23] hours of a head start. there is an

[29:25] airport only 45 minutes away and if we

[29:28] don't have a name on that individual

[29:29] they actually could be out of the US um

[29:31] by this point and that becomes

[29:33] complicated. So I'd say my confidence is

[29:37] probably 60 65%.

[29:40] >> Uh Tracy listen thank you so much for

[29:41] coming on. I mean literally this press

[29:43] conference happened five minutes. It

[29:44] ended five minutes before you came on.

[29:47] Always appreciate your insight. You can

[29:48] check Tracy out uh online on NewsNation.

[29:51] She's a contributor there. Uh really

[29:53] thank you so much for taking the time.

[29:54] We really really appreciate it.

[29:56] >> Thank you for having me Jesse. I really

[29:57] appreciate it.

[29:58] >> And that is all we have for you right

[29:59] now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank

[30:01] you so much for joining us. And as

[30:02] always, please subscribe on YouTube,

[30:04] Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you

[30:06] should get your podcasts. You can follow

[30:07] me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber.

[30:10] I'll see you next time.

[30:15] [Music]