Michael Knowles Reacts to the Tyler Robinson Press Conference and Media Response to Kirk's Death

Charlie Kirk's killer has reportedly been found. Uh the authorities have announced a press conference. The press conference should begin momentarily. We ordinarily uh do not do this show live on all of the platforms. We ordinarily only do this show live to the Daily Wire audience. Obviously, given the circumstances, we will be live. We are waiting on that press conference immediately. No matter what we find out from that press conference, the question on everyone's mind is what happens now? The vice president of the United States has personally escorted Charlie's remains back home. The FBI may have found the assassin. There will be a long prosecution. Lot of interesting information that's come out even just this morning out of that. The rest of us are trying to figure out how to uphold Charlie's legacy and pull our country back from what just about everyone feels is the brink. And I fear that many people are drawing precisely the wrong conclusions. I'm Michael Nolles. This is the Michael Nolles show. [Music] Welcome back to the show. Things are moving very very quickly. As you know, as of last night, the uh assassin, the suspect was still at large. The uh FBI had discovered the weapon. The FBI had discovered some footprints. The FBI had discovered some grainy pictures, but uh they were calling on the entire country to help out uh with the search. They appear to have found someone. Uh, President Trump appeared this morning on Fox and Friends to to give just some of the details. >> I don't want to go too far. I'd like to tell you some stories at how it happened, but essentially somebody that was very close to him turned them in. And that happens when you had some of those good shots. Somebody is going to say, whether it's a parent or whatever. I'd rather not say right now. They're going to announce it today. Sometime later, probably talk about that. But somebody close to him turned and you know they said whoa. It's interesting. Well, we we had very good pictures but not great, not perfect. And when you look at it, what happened is is somebody and this happens a lot. It happened with the crazy Boston bomber. It happened with others. Somebody that's close recognizes even a little tilt of the head which nobody else would do. And somebody that was very close to him said, "That's him." >> And uh essentially uh went to the father, went to a US marshal who was fantastic by the way and the person was involved with law enforcement but was a person of faith, a minister and brought him to a US marshal who was fantastic and the father convinced the son this is it. And >> so the president here is saying someone who was close to the shooter uh turned him in or rather someone who was close to the shooter notified the father and then he was apprehended. The reporting that's coming out right now is that the suspect's father uh was able to secure him and that it was the suspect's father who called law enforcement. Uh again, we're we're waiting. We're probably just a few minutes out now from the uh press conference where we're going to learn a lot more. But if that was in fact the case, it raises this question, why would the father tune in? I think we're we're getting law enforcement here addressing the crowd. Let's let's get to it. >> Nope, that was a fake out. Okay, we have a five-minute warning on the on the press conference. So the the question that is raised is well why would the father turn the suspect in? And uh one you could say well it's because of justice. It's because of morality. It's because he believes the suspect committed cold-blooded murder. It might also come from a place of paternal care because the way that this was more likely to end was with that suspect being dead. And with this, if the suspect were were found dead or retrieved dead, that that would make this national tragedy so much worse. There would be so many more questions. You you would there would be there would be so much more doubt in a country that already does not does not trust one another. Uh I'm I'll get to the implications of all of this after after we hear from the authorities. I'll get to the media reaction. And I'll get to what this says about our political culture. I'll get to what I think is the path forward because I think a lot of people are drawing the wrong conclusions. But just for right now, I want to focus on on who this person could be. The FBI released video last night of the suspected shooter. They they had video from around the Utah campus. The shooter was up on the roof, shot Charlie, uh, and then immediately fled off the roof, jumped down. Here's the video that we we had last night. that are going to follow this. You're going to see a very distinctive t-shirt with an American flag and appears to have an eagle on it. There's also a baseball cap with a triangle on it and a pair of sunglasses. All distinctive, all things that we would ask the public to look for and try to uh identify if they know someone who is has those items, who has been seen wearing those items. We're looking for all that information. Please pay close attention to the t-shirt. Like I said, very distinctive with that American flag and that eagle. Um the hat with the triangle and the sunglasses. Here we go to the next picture. >> So, this comes out last night and I I know a lot of people look at it and say, "Well, how are you supposed to tell who that is? It's a grainy photograph. It this guy's covered up with a hat with sunglasses." President Trump made the point, well, uh you know, sometimes if it's a loved one, it's someone you know, even just a little tilt of the head, you say, "That's the person." or as the FBI is saying here, I recognize those shoes. Oh, I recognize that shirt. And so, because the the suspect was able to escape, a a lot of people were just uh called upon to to give any information they can. This is why not not that we want to include uh the photograph of the shooter in the show, but if the if the suspect is at large, if anyone has any additional information, uh this was this was a plea by the government to a country that is obviously fractured, that is increasingly fractured, in which a large portion of the country celebrated the cold-blooded murder of a man who just wanted to go talk it out on campuses with his opponents graciously and generously. This was a plea to say, "Hey, if we have any common humanity left, if we have any shared community left, we need your help. We cannot do it alone. You have to reach out." And reportedly that is exactly what happened. That someone close to the shooter contacted the father. The father reportedly called authorities and said, "I have secured my son." This raises questions, too. Does it mean I'm distracting my son until you get here? Does this mean that I'm physically restraining my son? Does this mean I'm locking my son in a in a room? We just don't know. We're waiting now on all of that. What we do know is what the Utah governor uh promised yesterday, which is that the death penalty will be pursued. Uh this would appear to be appropriate. Uh to put it diplomatically, and there there are many people on the right, I don't know if I'll say many. No, I there are there are really there's a growing number of people on the right who are opposed to the death penalty. And I think it's important to ask ourselves why we have the death penalty. We have the death penalty for three different reasons. Retributive justice most importantly. If you do something wrong, that is why you are punished. It's not merely rehabilitation. It's not merely deterrent. It's it's retributive justice. You do something wrong, justice demands you be punished in some way. uh it is deterrence to to turn people away from from doing these crimes to discourage them and it is rehabilitation as Dr. Johnson points out, "Depend upon it, sir. When a man knows he's to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." Those are the three reasons. The the modern argument against the death penalty is that uh practically speaking, we don't need it anymore. We live in this modern society. We can lock people up very well and so you don't really need it. That prudential argument is beginning to fray as we let criminals off the hook, as we have mainstream calls to abolish prisons, as we have this kind of violence and terrorism spreading. Not merely the targeted assassinations as happened to Charlie, but regular old street crime, women being set on fire in New York City subway cars, women refugees being stabbed in the neck on on Charlotte trains. As this is creeping up, it it begins to weaken the prudential argument against the death penalty because increasingly people cannot trust the criminal justice system to lock away the bad guys to protect society from the evildoers. And so I I think you might be seeing a return to a more classical and traditional conception of justice and morality. At the very least, that's what you're getting in Utah. And I think most people are are uh quite all right with that. Now, the the uh rest of what's occurred concerns Charlie himself, and I know a lot of people uh were really choked up yesterday because Charlie's remains were flown from uh Utah to Phoenix, Phoenix, which is his home. And and not only were they returned there, they were returned on Air Force 2, the vice president's airplane. Not only were they returned on Air Force 2, which is a a great and fitting honor, but the vice president himself uh helped to carry the casket onto the airplane. For those of you who who are only listening, there's JD front right side of the casket carrying his friend's body. The vice president and Charlie Kirk were quite close all all the way onto the airplane. uh a a beautiful gesture from the vice president and one that is not only fitting at a personal level uh but but is fitting from a political and public level because Charlie was not only a public figure but he was one of the most important political figures in the entire country even though he didn't hold office even though he didn't pass laws. maybe because he didn't hold office and pass laws, but I think it's no exaggeration to say a a a member of the cabinet could have assa been assassinated, god forbid, it would have been much less politically significant than Charlie Kirk being assassinated. And and I I'm I'm counting both parties in this really. He wasn't a governor. He wasn't a senator. He didn't hold office. And yet he was much more politically influential and significant in the minds of people than any of them. And on on top of all of that, he was a symbol of what many many people wish for in this country, which is open dialogue, respectful, generous, gracious exchange, trying to talk it out, hear out the other side. He was a symbol of that. And both of these things come together when you look at someone like the vice president because just at a at a personal level, I know that Charlie's death has seriously affected many many millions of people not only in America but around the world and we'll get to some of those tributes that have come in in a little bit. But also he was a personal friend to a lot of us. He was a personal friend to a lot of us. He had a lot of friends and a lot of those people who have public roles are are know him, know uh what a good guy he was, know his innocence, and are feeling very personally the injustice of their friend being murdered. That that adds on to all of it. And and everyone else could feel that too. So, the vice president helps to carry Charlie's casket onto Air Force 2. Air Force 2 then lands in Phoenix. This is what Phoenix air traffic control had to say when the plane landed. >> Welcome home, Charlie. You didn't deserve it. May God bless your family. >> Beautiful tribute even from air traffic control. Welcome home, Charlie. You didn't deserve it. God bless you and your family. The Charlie's widow, Erica, was walking walking down the plane holding hands with the second lady of the United States who shans. Not just even air traffic control. You know, I I mentioned the the day that Charlie was murdered. The Yankee Stadium held a moment of silence for him before the game. And I thought that was really astounding. Not just because I'm a Yankee fan, love the Yankees, but I said, "Oh, wow. It's it's not just the American right that is saying nice things about him. It's not just the president of the United States and the vice president who are saying nice things about him. It's all of the other presidents in both parties. It's multiple heads of government from around the world. I said, "Oh my goodness, it's even cultural institutions like the Yankees." The Yankees though, a little secret is they've always trended a little bit more conservative. Even last night, the NFL, which is which is a downright leftist league, you know, the leading the charge on disrespecting the American flag and BLM and all the rest of it, the the NFL had a moment of silence. >> The National Football League asked that you please join us in a moment of silent reflection following the murder of Charlie Kirk. The NFL condemns all violence in our communities. It will take all of us to stop hate. Thank you. >> That really struck me. I I think you are seeing from the prominent institutions, from the really prominent individuals a a recognition that the United States is on the brink. We are on the brink of something. Civil wars have started for less. No exaggeration. I am not one for hyperbolic talk or about civil war or any I am not I am not that guy. But it's not just me who recognizes this here. I think it's the NFL. I think it's all the major politicians. I think it's the parties. There there has been a sense that wow, you know, even people who have who have contributed to this this nasty environment, this environment that would become increasingly violent with private violence, vigilante violence, trying to attack people for for what their mere opinions, mainstream opinions at that that yikes, maybe we don't really want to go down this path. There has been a reasonable amount of responsibility from almost every institution with one exception with one exception and that is the left-wing media. I mentioned yesterday on the show I said everyone is going to be inveying and with great anger about the horrific reactions from the left-wing media to Charlie's murder. Said today is not that day. said, "Yesterday is a day to mourn the man and to grieve, and there's an order to these things, and it's natural and it's good." I said, "All of that is for tomorrow, okay? We won't forget it. We won't let it slip. Our blood will boil on simmer for 24 hours as we mourn Charlie." We'll get to that tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here. And it's very, very important to pay attention to what elite liberal media had to say about this. Not some fringe stuff. I'm not pulling up all of the degenerate leftists on Twitch or whatever. I'm not I'm not finding the most sensationalist uh small potato that I can find. I am pointing to the major networks. Here we have MSNBC's reaction >> um in which a shooting like this happens. >> Yeah. And again emphasize what you just emphasized. We don't know any the full details of this that we don't know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or so we have no idea. >> That was Matthew Dow MSNBC contributor. Charlie Kirk is shot. Everyone sees it on all the cameras. He's shot through the neck and I think most people the moment they saw the video recognized he was almost certainly dead. And the left-wing official news analysts immediate reaction on the left-wing news network was, "Well, I mean, who knows? Maybe it was a supporter shooting off his gun in celebration." I can't I can't tell if that displays a level an almost criminal at least culpable level of ignorance or if that was snark. Was that sarcasm? Was that a little j about gun control? I don't know. Those rube idiots. Those rube idiots who follow those right-wing speakers like Charlie Kirk. Maybe they were just shooting their guns off like Mexican bandidos in celebration. I can't tell and I don't know what's worse. I don't know if this guy really has nothing between the ears. Just wind whistling through. That would be bad enough. Or did he actually try to get a little barb in at Charlie or at least Charlie's supporters as the man was bleeding to death? Probably at that point already murdered. I I think the charitable view to this guy's intellect is that it was the latter, but the charitable guy the charitable view to this guy's soul, to this guy's character would be the I it's unthinkable. Matthew Dow then goes on and I think maybe this clip actually reveals a little bit more of where he's coming from. But following up what what was just said, he's been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which then lead to hateful actions. vomitinducing vomitinducing behavior from from MSNBC and from this person because he he says in a way you have to be grateful to him because he is articulating what a lot of liberals even mainstream liberals have said and at least thought privately and he's just saying it out loud explicitly. He says, 'Well, you know, uh, yes, that, uh, young man, that young 31-year-old father of two, married boy scout who only ever wanted to talk it out with his opponents in a gracious way. He's very divisive. That's that's your first reaction. Well, you're he's very div How's he divisive? By the way, give me an example of a divisive thing Charlie said. Been friends with Charlie for a long time. I know all the things you're going to point. You're going to say, "Well, he says that men and women are different." I maybe that is divisive today. Wasn't divisive eight years ago. Well, he says we should protect babies in the womb. We shouldn't murder them. Maybe that's divisive today by today's standards. Didn't used to be. For statistically all of American history, that wasn't divisive at all. Any even slightly moral person would have agreed with that. even slightly moral, even accidentally moral person would have agreed with that. Now, I guess that's considered divisive. Even after that became divisive, quote unquote, at the very least, people uh didn't think you should be murdered for expressing that opinion. But then MSNBC goes further. MSNBC says says the quiet part out loud. Says, "Well, you know, look, this kind of rhetoric leads to these kind of feelings leads to these kind of actions. He had it coming." That's what they're saying in not quite so many words, but that is directly what they're saying. Well, he had it coming. That was MSNBC's first reaction. And it's such a gut punch. Very little surprises me in politics. And I I knew that these guys kind of thought that. I suspected they kind of thought that. But that is such a gut punch, man. A 31-year-old father of two, married, sweet guy, moderate, nice, as mainstream as they get, as gracious as they get, gets murdered in cold blood on television front of his wife, and his kids are going to have to watch that. And your first reaction is, "Yeah, well, what?" Yeah, he had it coming. He had it coming. He did it. He deserved it. That's what he said. That's what MSNBC said. Sickening. And it's a gut punch. Not merely because of this lunatic television network that is somehow still on the airwaves, but it's because it wasn't just them. It's because it it was the media media more broadly. I have it's You want to go past MSNBC? I have the New York Times right here. Now, here's how the New York Times covered it. A correction was made on September 11th, 2025. An earlier version of this article described incorrectly an anti-semitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made on an episode of his podcast. Hold on. Wait, what? Man, you can call Charlie Kirk a lot of things. Calling him an anti-semite. Are you insane? Anyone, you don't have to be his friend. Anyone who has ever followed him for one second knows he's uh been quite a quite a supporter of the Jewish people and of the state of Israel. An anti- what could they be talking about? New York Times paper of record, the Grey Lady, an earlier version of this article described incorrectly an anti-semitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made on an episode of his podcast. He was quoting a statement from a post on social media and went on to critique it. It was not his own statement. [Music] Young man, totally innocent, murdered in cold blood by, it would appear, a political opponent, maybe a political opponent who reads the New York Times, gunned down for expressing his views and mainstream views at that. And you say, "Yeah, well, you know, you're probably a Jew hater." Yeah, he's a he's a Jew hater, Charlie Kirk. He's an anti-semite. Oh, he's like the head of the Ku Klux Clan, isn't he? Like a Nazi. Oh, sorry. Correction. And even the correction is so nauseating. Listen to the first statement. An earlier version of this article described incorrectly an anti-semitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made. He didn't make the statement. He didn't make your your correction needs a correction. You could say an anti-semitic statement that Charlie Kirk read. You can say an anti-semitic statement that Charlie Kirk reported on. It's not a statement that he made. A statement that you make is one of your own making. Even the correction is calumny from the New York Times. Don't just say it's, well, that's some left-wing streamer on Blue Sky or on Twitch or on what. Oh. Oh, well, okay. Maybe it's not that. It's but that's just that left-wing cable network MSNBC. It's the New York Times. It's their most prestigious news outlet. It's their correction is to slander, to liel, to columnate him. These are the mainstream elite places. By the way, before we let MSNBC off the hook, it's not even just Matthew D. We're getting the press conference. We've been given just a minute or two warning here. It's not even just the the uh analysts who come on MSNBC. There's an MSNBC anchor who came out and decided to criticize Charlie Kirk the moment this happened. >> Yeah. We're showing, by the way, our affiliate in Utah um uh and the aftermath of this shooting. Uh you could see people running away pretty quickly as as you would imagine they would do um at gunshots. Uh the FBI director Cash Patel uh has um weighed in on this. He just tweeted the following. We're closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected. Agents will be on the scene quickly, and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and the investigation. Um, Charlie Kirk is a divisive figure. Um, polarizing, lightning rod, whatever term you want to use. Why? >> Uh, well, he's one of MAGA's most prominent voices online. >> Your first reaction, again, not just an analyst here. You're talking about an anchor for the network. Your first reaction is, "Okay, he's been shot. People are fleeing. Might be dead. Looks like he's dead." Charlie Kirk's a divisive figure. He's real polarizing. That's the story. Got it. I'm not even going to mention, well, I suppose I'll mention, I'm not going to look at or discuss at length the ubiquity of the negative comments about Charlie Kirk from the political left throughout social media, the many celebrations, the other news networks where cheers could be heard, followed by official denials. I'm not going to mention or at least speak at length about the additional threats that have come against conservative communicators, political figures and the like all over the place. These are the mainstream elite places up to and including elected officials. Ilhan Omar, sitting member of Congress, very prominent Democrat member of Congress. Here's what she had to say. >> Charlie was someone who was willing to debate and downplay the death of George Floyd uh in the hands of Minneapolis police. >> I think he called him a scumbag, >> right? Have no regard um downplay slavery and what black people have gone through in in this country uh by saying Juneen should never exist. Um, and I and I think you know the the there are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate, >> complete rewriting of a complete rewriting of history. Yeah, there is nothing um more effed up, you know, like uh than to than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions um have not been recorded and and and in existence um for for the last decade or so. >> Someone murdered Charlie Kirk because he didn't like what he had to say as Charlie was respectfully engaging with people on a college campus with his opponents. But that's the core of the story. Someone murdered Charlie Kirk because he didn't like what Charlie Kirk had to say. A sitting member of Congress, a very prominent member of the Democrat party, sits down next to whatever that guy's name is, I forget his name, but I've seen him before. He's he's been around the liberal media for a long time. And they both say, "Yeah, we don't like what Charlie Kirk had to say." Full stop. Notice Ilhan Omar didn't say, "Well, I might not like what Charlie Kirk had to say, but it was so terribly wrong to murder him, and this is what Charlie Kirk was saying was within the mainstream of and really, even if he were on the fringe, we shouldn't murder him for his points of view." No, no, no, no, no. Her reaction was, "Yeah, yeah, but he said really disgusting stuff." As if, as if to say. The obvious implication of what she's saying is, "Yeah, he had it coming." Say, "Ilhan, don't you think it's wrong to murder a young man who doesn't hold any political office, who's just having conversations? Don't you think it's wrong to murder a young man for his opinions?" And her response is, "Yeah, he had really bad opinions, though." You know, I mean, hey, let's not rewrite history. I really didn't like his opinions. Huh. And then who whatever that guy's name is, the liberal anchor, he says, "Oh, no. It's complete. He has terrible opinions. Had terrible opinions." Yeah. And people are saying, they're trying to diminish now how bad his opinions were. I hated his opinions. I hated them. They were really bad. That's not the point. Pardon me. It's not the point. The whole argument that the even slightly reasonable and moral people in this country are are making right now is that you should not be murdered in cold blood for expressing your opinion. And Ilhan Omar is saying, "Well, actually, maybe yes, you should." That's her implication, her not so subtle insinuation. If she agreed with the reasonable and moral people, she would say, "Well, yes, of course. No matter what he says, no matter how awful I find his opinions, of course, he shouldn't be murdered for them." For her reaction to be, "Well, no, no, no, he had really bad opinions." Is to accept the premise that under certain circumstances at least, one ought to be murdered for expressing his simple opinions. sitting member of Congress, one of the faces of the Democrat party. That guy's name, whose name I forget, but whoever that guy is, he's been on a lot of networks before. I've seen his face. I think we are now getting the press conference. We'll get to what happens now because I think people are are drawing a totally wrong >> press conference. We'll get to the press. >> We will hear from Governor Cox, FBI Director Cash Patel, >> and Sheriff Mike Smith. We also have with us Utah DPS Commissioner Bo Mason, Lieutenant Governor Dedra Henderson, FBI special agent in charge Robert BS, and local and federal law enforcement partners. Following the remarks today, Governor Cox, Director Patel, and Commissioner Mason will take questions. Thank you. [Applause] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We got him. On the evening of September 11th, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident. This information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff's Office and scene investigators at Utah Valley University. This information was also conveyed to the FBI. Investigators reviewed additional foot video footage from UVU surveillance and identified Robinson arriving on UVU campus in a gray Dodge Challenger at approximately 8:29 a.m. on September 10th in which he is observed on video in a plain maroon t-shirt, light colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo, and light colored shoes. When encountered in person by investigators in Washington County on September 12th in the early morning hours, Robinson was observed in consistent clothing with those surveillance images. Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years. The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to September 10th. And in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate. The family member also confirmed Robinson had a gray Dodge Challenger. Investigators identified an individual as the roommate of Robinson. Investigators interviewed that roommate, who stated that his roommate, referring to Robinson, made a joke on Discord. Investigators asked if he would show them the messages on Discord. He opened it and showed several messages to investigators and allowed investigators to take photos of the screen as each message was shown by Robinson's roommate. These photos consisted of various messages, including content of messages between the phone contact name Tyler with an emoji icon and Robinson's roommate's device. The content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to a to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages also refer to engraving bullets and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique. Messages from the contact Tyler also mentioned that he had changed outfits. I know there's been speculation as well as to uh the the writing on those casings, those those uh those bullet casings. And uh I believe we have that as well and I I will share that with you now. So the area north of Campus Drive Road where the suspect crossed over, you saw some of that in the video that we released last night consists of a grassy area with trees on the edge of the UVU campus. Investigators discovered a boltaction rifle wrapped in a dark colored towel. The rifle was determined to be a Mouser model 98 3006 caliber 306 caliber bolt-action rifle. The rifle had a scope mounted on top of it. Investigators noted inscriptions that had been engraved on casings found with the rifle. Inscriptions on a fired casing read, "Notices bulges capital O. What's this question mark?" Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read, "Hey, fascist, exclamation point, catch, exclamation point." Up arrow symbol, right arrow, and uh symbol, and three down arrow symbols. A second unfired casing read, "Oell, Bellachow, Bellachchow, Chow Chow." And a third unfired casing read, "If you read this, you are gay." L M AO. We are indebted to law enforcement uh across the state who has worked seamlessly together, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, and our federal partners with the uh with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We're grateful for everyone who worked together in uh in in such a short amount of time to uh to find this person and to uh and to bring justice. I want to thank the public who has been so engaged reviewing uh reviewing videos, re helping us with uh sending in tips and uh helping us get to this point. I want to thank uh the uh the family members of Tyler Robinson who did the right thing in this case and were able to uh to bring him into uh to law enforcement as well. I especially want to thank the family of Charlie Kirk, uh Erica, um Charlie's parents, his children. I want us to be thinking of them as we bring justice in this case. Um they will be involved in that justice. Uh we will be working very closely with them as we move through this process as well. This is a a very sad day for again for our country. Uh a terrible day for the state of Utah, but I'm grateful that at this moment we have an opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation's history. With that, I will now turn the uh turn the microphone over to the director of the FBI, Cash Patel. >> Thank you, Governor. This is what happens when you let good cops be cops. The FBI and our partners are proud to stand here today together to bring justice to the family of Charlie Kirk and honor his memory. I want to express my deep gratitude to President Trump, the vice president, and the entire White House who have been so incredibly supportive with both resources and just personally to the FBI as a team. They had our backs the entire way. And I just want to express my gratitude for giving us the resources we need to operate in this space to bring this sort of justice at this sort of speed. In 33 hours, we have made historic progress for Charlie. Governor Cox, our partnership has been absolutely incredible these last few days. Our partnership will endure. your state and local partners, your sheriffs, your DPS community has been unbelievably impressive in the hardest of times. And a case like this cannot be solved, cannot be brought without partnering with your state and local authorities. The FBI has a certain role to play and we will play that role. Um, and we will lead out for the federal government. But Governor Cox, we are so grateful for your state partnership that led out on this investigation. A little bit of the timeline. Charlie was shot at 12:23 p.m. on Wednesday. The first FBI agents on arrived on scene in 16 minutes with chiefs of police at 12:39 and secured the scene. The FBI immediately launched fixedwing assets. We utilize these assets to transport personnel, specialty technicians, hostage rescue teams. We also utilize these assets to go back and forth from the east coast and here in Utah to transport forensic evidence and other evidence that will be analyzed and is being analyzed at our FBI laboratories in Quantico and other laboratories including the ATF. At my direction, the FBI released the first set of FBI photos of the suspect at 10:00 a.m. local time on 911. Then shortly thereafter, the FBI reward of $100,000 was released at 10:45 a.m. local. Myself and Deputy Director Bonino arrived on the scene at approximately 5:30 p.m. on 911. The governor led a press conference last night at approximately 8:00 p.m. where at my direction, the FBI released a never-before-seen video of the suspect. We also released new images to the public of the suspect. And just last night, the suspect was taken into custody at 10 p.m. local time. In less than 36 hours, 33 to be precise, thanks to the full weight of the federal government and leading out with the partners here in the state of Utah and Governor Cox, the suspect was h apprehended in historic time period. And I want to highlight what Governor Cox said. This would not have been possible without you, the media, and you, the public. That's why we went so public, so fast, and we're so transparent, and we're committed to that transparency. The crime scene, just a little bit there, it is a large crime scene. state and local authorities along with federal authorities processed that crime scene quickly. And I even had the um ability to walk through that crime scene and walk through the steps the suspect took to learn more about what was needed and what resources we needed to bring to create a full picture for the FBI and leadership back in Washington. Furthermore, thankfully to state and local partners, forensic evidence has been seized and continues to be garnered. Forensic evidence has already been evaluated at FBI laboratories in Quantico and state local authorities here. We will continue to process evidence as we see it, as we collect it, and we will continue to deliver to Governor Cox and his team. Last night, we had a total of approximately 7,000 interviews, excuse me, 7,000 leads. As of this morning, thanks to your great work, we have over 11,000 leads that were called in to the FBI, and we are running out every single lead that we can. Every one of those leads will be run out. The arrest is a testament to dedication of good law enforcement being great and partnerships in law enforcement, which I've tried to highlight as my tenure to the director of the FBI. There is no better relationship for law enforcement than the FBI to partner with state and local authorities. And you've seen it here in these last few days. The FBI Salt Lake Field Office along with our offices in LA, Phoenix, Denver, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, our headquarters component in Quanico all participate in the FBI. I want to express my deep gratitude to the employees of the FBI, the men and women, the evidence response team, tacticians, the special operators, the agents, the support staff. You have done monumental work in historic time. When the public, who had a right to demand such an expeditious solving of an investigation, the FBI answered that call diligently, critically important to our nation, and we delivered. And I'm proud to be their leader, and I'm proud to be the director of the FBI. This is a very much an ongoing investigation as the governor said and we will continue to work with state and local authorities uh to develop the investigation to provide them the evidence they need for their ongoing prosecutions and we will be here to answer every call they absolutely have as long as it takes for as long as we need to find and apprehend whatever suspects were involved in this crime. Lastly, to my friend Charlie Kirk, rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I'll see you in Valhalla. Thank you. And good morning. I would just like to take a few minutes as as the sheriff to express my gratitude for everybody who has played a part in this investigation. As you know, it's been a vast a complicated and a very very fast-paced investigation. You're looking at people standing up here who are running on if they got an hour sleep in the last couple days, they're probably lucky. Um it has been very taxing. It has been so impressive of speaking on behalf of the local law enforcement to see the cooperation that we have seen in this type of case. Uh across the state, sheriffs, chiefs, um our our state partners have stepped up and have come to the call on anything that we needed. Uh our county chiefs have been phenomenal. Our Utah County Attorney, Jeff Gray, who's standing up here with us, has been phenomenal. in leading us through this investigation. I would like to thank the federal government for for their resource sources, their assets. Our local team here, our FBI team has been extraordinary in helping us work through this and bring this person to justice. Most of all, I would like to thank the public and specifically I would like to thank the public who turned to prayers and who turned to positiveness for us. I would like to thank them on behalf of the law enforcement community because we needed those prayers. That's what we needed to get through this. We needed your support and you gave it to us. We needed your patience and you gave it to us. And I would like to thank you for the Kirk family because that's what they need is your support and your prayers and that will get us through all of this. So, thank you everybody for everybody that have stepped up. We've had such a phenomenal response to this. Thank you. >> I also want to give a special thanks to the attorney general and the department of justice. Their unwavering support and their commitment to justice is shown true here. And without A.G. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch and the resources they brought to bear, we would not have been able to complete our mission. And I just want to say a special thanks. It's an honor to be a part of the Department of Justice. Thank you again uh to our incredible law enforcement team who has worked so hard. Um, Sheriff, I got a solid 90 minutes last night, so I'm probably the most well-rested person up here. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I uh I get the microphone, so uh I hope you'll permit me a moment just to share a few more thoughts about where we are and and how we got here and and uh and and maybe a little bit of where we go from here. Um, I I don't want to get too preachy, but I think it's important that we with eyes wide open understand what what's happening in our our country today. I' I've heard I've heard people say, "Well, why are we why are we so invested in this? There's violence happening all across our country and violence is tragic everywhere and every life taken is is a child of God um who deserves our love and respect and dignity. This is uh this is certainly about the uh the tragic death assassination political assassination of of Charlie Kirk. Um, but it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is it is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been, and uh and who we could be in better times. Political violence is different than any other type of violence for for lots of different reasons. one because in the very act that Charlie championed of expression that freedom of expression that is enshrined in our founding documents in in having his life taken in that very act makes it more difficult for people to feel like they can share their ideas that they can speak freely. We will never be able to solve all the other problems including the violence problems that people are are worried about if we can't have a clash of ideas safely and securely even especially especially those ideas with which you disagree. That's why this matters so much. Over the last 48 hours, I have been as angry as I have ever been, as sad as I have ever been. And um it was uh as as as anger pushed me to the brink, it was actually Charlie's words that pulled me back. I'd like to share some of those. And specifically right now, if I could, I I need to talk to the young people in our state, in my state, and and all across the country. As President Trump reminded me, he said, "You know who who really loved Charlie? The youths." He's right. Um, young people love Charlie. And young people hated Charlie. And Charlie went into those places anyway. And these are the words that have helped me. Charlie said, "When people stop talking, that's when you get violence." He said, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive. Welcome without judgment, love without condition, forgive without limit." He said, "Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much." A few months ago, I referenced this last night, Charlie posted to social media, "When things are moving very fast and people are losing their minds, it's important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends, and remember, internet fury is not real life. It's going to be okay." He again said, "When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence." He said, "What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable agreement. Being able to have reasonable agreement where violence is not an option." Now again to my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don't matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations. I I think we need more moral clarity right now. I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence. And there is one person responsible for what happened here and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable. And and yet all of us have an opportunity right now to do something different. I I want to thank my fellow Utons uh you know this bad stuff happens um and uh for for 33 hours I was I was praying that uh that um if this had to happen here that it wouldn't be one of us that somebody drove from another state somebody came from another country. Sadly, that that uh that prayer was not answered the way uh I had hoped for just because I thought it would make it easier on us if we could just say, "Hey, we don't do that here." Um and indeed, Utah is a special place. We lead the nation in charitable giving. We lead the nation in service every year. Um, but it did happen here and and it it was one of us. But I I want you to look at how Utons reacted the last two nights. There was no rioting. There's no looting. There were no cars set on fire. There's no violence. There were there were vigils and prayers and people coming together to share the humanity and and that ladies and gentlemen I believe is the answer to this. We can return violence with violent violence. We can return hate with hate. And that's the problem with meta with political violence is it metastasizes because we can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point we have to find an off-ramp or it's going to get much much worse. But see these are choices that we can make. History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country. But every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us. We get to make decisions. We have our agency. And I desperately call on every American, Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us to please, please, please follow what Charlie taught me. I I'll just I'll just conclude with uh with words I share often from a friend and author you've all livein who was asked if he was optimistic about our country. And uh he said I'm not optimistic. He said I hate optimism. God that sounds bad. Uh but but he said he said optimism is a vice. It's this idea that good things are just going to happen. And he said, 'In the history of the world, good things have never just happened. He says, 'I'm not optimistic, but I am hopeful. And hope is the virtue that sits between the vices of optimism and pessimism. Hope is the idea that good things are going to happen because we can make them. So I still believe in our country and I know Charlie Kirk believed in our country. I still believe that there is more good among us than evil. And I still believe that we can change the course of history. I'm hopeful because Americans can make it so. Ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Speak to whether the suspect is speaking with authorities and his demeanor, Tyler Robinson, when he turned himself in. >> Um, we I cannot speak to that right now. How do you interpret Governor? How do you interpret the engravings on? >> Well, I will leave that up to you to interpret what those engravings mean. Um I I think the uh the clearest one that says catch fascist I there's not. And by the way, that's like catch like a ball, catch this. Um that's uh I think that that speaks for itself. Governor, you indicated that he had been communicating. >> Beyond that, is there anything in your view that you discovered that may have radicalized or changed him to prompt him to commit such a >> There's nothing more that we can share at this time. >> Governor, you indicated that he had been communicating with a friend on Discord about the gun. Do you anticipate any more arrests? Uh we do not at this time have any information that would lead to any additional arrests. >> You believe he acted alone? >> Yes, but the investigation is ongoing. >> How he came into custody of police and where he is right now. >> Uh yes. So right now Mr. Robinson has been booked into the Utah County Jail. Uh you you heard the president this morning uh report that uh that he was taken into custody that uh that his family and uh and a friend um helped to uh to deliver him in to the the into custody of law enforcement in Washington County. For those of you that don't know where Washington County is, it is the southern most southwestern most part of the state of Utah. It's about a 3 and a half to four hour drive from here um where we are right now. And uh that's uh that's where where he lived and where he uh they they turned him in. Please go here. >> I I I can't share any more than what I've already shared. Yeah. [Music] >> So um we we how we obtained the gun. The gun was found was found here. >> Uh so so I I don't have much more details um on that. Um we we do know that uh that that he drove we had his car here um on on campus and then uh and then we had his car going going south back to back to the St. George. Why? It's actually the city of Washington in uh in Washington County. >> Is he talking with authorities? >> I'm sorry. >> We don't have any information that would lead us to believe that. >> Yes. In fact, it's already it was just released. Yes. talking with authorities and did he discuss a motive? >> We um I I can't I can't answer that right now. >> Thank you. >> Do you feel this is a watershed in American history? >> Uh I I absolutely believe that this is a watershed in American history. Yes. Um the question is what kind of watershed and that that chapter remains to be written. Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history? We we have Look, I I mean, if if you look at true political assassinations in this country of of someone of this stature, um this feels a lot like the late60s um and and having one so gruesomely displayed uh on camera in all of our hands and in all of our pockets. We are not wired as human beings biologically uh historically. We have not evolved uh in a way that um we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery. And by the way, we've seen another one with a gruesome stabbing very recently that went viral. Um this is not good for us. It is not good to consume. Um, social media is a cancer on our society right now and I would encourage again I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community. Uh, there are pe that is happening and it's happening organically right now. Had a friend in a in a small city in Utah who said, "We're we're we're getting together. The Republicans and Democrats in my little town are getting together to have a discussion tonight uh last night um just to find a way to to to find their better angels." So, so yes, this this could be I I mean you you know again you have to go back to JFK to to have seen a video live of something like this happening. Um I wasn't born until 1975, but but I know that things were really dark in in the late '60s. Sorry to some of you. I know some of you were there. Uh but but th this is the this is our moment. Um do we escalate or do do we find an off-ramp? And uh again, it's a choice. It's a choice and every one of us gets to make that choice. Two more questions. Two more questions right here. >> Could we clarify that the release of those enhanced images at 8:00 p.m. timeline the director gave us led to the arrest at 10 p.m.? Is there a direct connection between those two events? I I cannot comment if there is a direct connection or not, but all I can say is that uh that that through some process the family came to know that this had happened. >> One more thing, could you just clarify the clothing issue, was he changing outfit? >> Correct. Yes. Yes. So, um, so when he's first spotted on campus, he has different clothing on and then he changes clothing on the roof and then changed back into that clothing at some point so that when when he was uh when he was apprehended when he when he was arrested, um, the clothing matched the clothing he had on before the shooting here at UVU. Last question here. Yes. suspect was from Utah. Can you kind of tell us a little bit more about where was he at any >> Yeah. So um I I I I don't have any information on the mental illness part. He was not a student here at UVU. Um he was living and uh and had lived for a long time with his family in uh in Washington County in the southernmost part of our states. Thank you everyone for um for your great work in getting this information out. Uh I I just say process-wise this may be important. I I know many of you aren't familiar with with the process in Utah. I I think it's important that you understand that. Um basically um we have 3 days for uh charging documents to be filed. Uh a CI will be filed. We'll have more information then more detailed information as those charging documents are filed in in preparation for a preliminary hearing. So 3 days. So, you know, we would anticipate then that that early next week those charging documents will be filed. We will obviously be working the uh the county attorney will be working very closely with uh with Mr. Kirk's family as uh as those documents and decisions are prepared and made. Thanks everyone. >> Really unbelievable press conference from the governor there and from Cash Patel the FBI director. We got a lot of information. We got a lot of information about the shooter. We now know they got him. That was the opening of the press conference. We got him. We then got an interpretation of what the events mean because the governor was leading it. We got a a vision of the path forward. That that was a a an incredibly thorough, robust press conference here. So, they have the suspect. The guy was living with his parents. He was uh I don't I think pretty clearly a member of the political left. In fact, when the governor was asked uh what the what the casings meant, what the engravings meant, he said, "Look, it says catch this fascist. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. It seems pretty clear to me." So, this this was by all evidence left-wing political violence. He also said that social media is a cancer and that our brains are just not wired to see this kind of uh political assassination up close in HD from someone that many people grew up watching, especially young people have been watching Charlie Kirk since they're 10 years old and they see this guy uh murdered in a very gruesome way on their phones. He said, "This is not good. This is this is not how we're how we're built to live. Social media is a cancer." That's an amazing and largely accurate I think view of the situation. Uh I was listening to a a lecture the other day that pointed out that each social media uh website is tied to one of the deadly sins. I think this is in the tumistic institute. And so LinkedIn is is avarice and Instagram is pride and x Twitter is wrath you know and it's just there's so much wrath and uh it's it's so gruesome. I was speaking last night to someone who said, "Michael, it's so scary when I watched the video. The scariest thing about watching the video of Charlie's assassination is that I felt nothing." This person didn't know Charlie. He agreed with him on some things, didn't agree with him on other things. What isn't particularly political, but I was taken aback. I said, "What do you mean you felt nothing?" He said, "I felt nothing because I'm so desensitized to seeing this violence." It was 10 years ago. If you wanted to see a really gruesome video, you had to go to the darkest corners of the internet. Now, he said, I've seen multiple murders just in the past three days in high definition on my phone. He said it was it scared me that fact about myself. No question about it. And then the governor said he didn't want to be preachy, but he gave a kind of a political sermon about opinions and about how horrified we all are that people are now being murdered for expressing their opinions. And this gets to the almost universal reaction to to Charlie's murder on the right, on the left. And this is where I think people are actually misinterpreting things. uh you you saw this quite clearly uh even just yesterday on the view from Alyssa Farah articulating much the same view that everyone else is mentioning. >> Um I hope it doesn't have a chilling effect whether you're left or right on your ability to speak your mind. I know the one thing we all agree about on this table, we all share our view points. >> I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. And I agree with the broader sentiment that I want to get back to a civil society where we can speak and where we can uh articulate views like reasonable people and have our traditional self-government and all the rest of it. I I certainly agree with the governor on that. I agree with with everyone who's saying it. But I don't agree that the immediate reaction to this has to be to just speak a lot more to not not tamp down any kind of speech that we what we need to do we just need to engage a lot more in the open marketplace of ideas. I I think that is a totally wrong interpretation of what's just happened. Charlie Kirk did the best job it is possible to do in the most generous, gracious way of engaging with the left in the free marketplace of ideas. He he did it literally in a wide open field many many times. Anybody could come up to him and ask him any question about anything. He He gave it the best shot and the left killed him for it. The left murdered him for it. He He did the most noble thing you could possibly do in the free marketplace of ideas and they murdered him for it. And as I mentioned on the show yesterday, in a battle, a physical battle or a rhetorical battle, your opponent gets a say, too. You don't get to just make up all the rules. And what the political left has said, and it's not just the murder of Charlie. This has been going on for years and years and years. Threats and attempts at violence against many people on the right. And it's almost uniformly from the left against the right reaching its horrific and tragic peak in the political assassination of Charlie Kirk. They said, the left said, "No, you you want to come into the free marketplace of ideas, we're going to shoot you." Well, you can't have a marketplace if people don't feel safe to go into the marketplace. No one's going to go to buy the goods. You can't. You can't have a free and open and flourishing marketplace. If people can reasonably expect a bomb to go off in the marketplace in any given moment, if they feel that they'll be sitting ducks in the marketplace, marketplaces don't work that way because marketplaces need rules. Marketplaces need security. Marketplaces need order and peace in order to function. You can't have a marketplace if people keep shooting up the marketplace and the left keeps shooting up the marketplace. And so it seems to me what is called for now if we want to return to a country that has a healthy exchange of ideas and in in which we can all flourish and live together in a peaceable way without some kind of uh heavy-handed government around us. What we need to do in order to get to that is to be a little bit more forceful. I think we we do need to tamp down some things. I think we do need to restore order. I think we need more arrests of criminals. I think we need more early interventions. I think we need more insane asylums. It's totally unclear what the this shooter psychiatric condition was, but broadly speaking, I think we've seen that with the Charlotte attack, with with many of the leftist attacks, the transgender attacks in recent years. We need institutions that can take care of these people who cannot take care of themselves and who are constantly imperiling our lives and who have made it impossible to have a free marketplace of ideas. I think we need to be a little more forceful about delusions. We've entertained a lot of delusions. We've given license to a lot of delusions that have led directly to violence. And that is especially including trans transgender violence. But it's not just transgender violence. It's left-wing anarchism generally. Antifa, all the many, many delusions about our society. I think we need to be a little more clear about what the truth is and we need to have the confidence and the dignity to stand up for the truth in the public square. Ostracism. I think we need a little bit more ostracism for the people who are celebrating the cold-blooded murder of a man who only ever wanted to talk it out. I think those people need to lose their jobs. I think those people need to be expelled from polite society. and uh they can go they can have a a little book club themselves where they can uh dance gleeully at the murder of innocent people but they should not be permitted into polite society. I think we need we need clarity and force on that front in the government in the educational institutions in corporate America in in society William FBuckley Jr. no less urbane and and uh clubbable a conservative than William F. Buckley Jr. made this point 60 years ago. Some liberal on his show said, "We need a really open society." We all agree with how open the society should be, right? The open marketplace values, the open, open, open. He said, "No, no, no. I think society should be considerably more closed. We want freedom, but you can't have freedom without order. There's no such thing as freedom without order. There's no such thing as liberty without knowledge. You can't be ignorant and free. You can't be undisiplined and free. You can't have anarchy and chaos and shooters lurking around every corner and and half the country gleeully celebrating cold-blooded murder and be free. You can't have that. The prerequisite for freedom is order and discipline and knowledge. That's what we have to restore right now. And that involves circumscribing some of the insanity that we have allowed to fester over the last several decades. Insanity that is totally out of step with the American tradition, with the principles of ordered liberty, with the ideals that every reasonable person holds. We need to we need to have a little more courage and we need to have a little more clarity and we need to exercise a little bit more just authority in our society. How many people have you talked to? I' I've heard this from so many people. They say, "Michael, I'm something that scandalizes me most about Charlie's assassination is that I logged on to Facebook and people I grew up with, people I used to work with are happy about it. Multiple people have said this to me. I bet it's true of you, too. I never I never thought I because Charlie being so mainstream, being relatively moderate, being so gental, being so polite, being so nice, if they would celebrate his murder, they'd celebrate my murder. If they would justify his murder, they'd justify my murder. I thought these people were my friends. I thought they were my family. I thought I grew up with them. You cannot have a society like that. And we need some standards back in our society. And we need some rules around the marketplace. All marketplaces need rules. All in order for a marketplace to flourish, you have to feel that that your life is not imperiled by walking into one. That's what is called for right now. That is the necessary step that most people I think are missing to arrive at the ideal that they like of a society in which people can have a healthy exchange of ideas. Before we go, I know that what the argument is going to be now, the left is already making it, is that left-wing violence is rare and really most political violence comes from the right. In fact, uh, Democrat Congressman Seth Molton made this point on CNN just yesterday. By and large, saying we all need to turn down the rhetoric. So, let's be serious about where this violence is coming from. Of extremist violent attacks in America, extremist violence violent murders, 76% are from right-wing extremists, 4% are from left-wing extremists. I condemn that 4%. But we also need to be honest about as a nation about where this violence is coming from. And oh, by the way, it's probably an appropriate time to talk about guns, too. You hear a lot of conservatives saying, "Hey, the only thing we need to do here is get more guns on the street." No, >> that's not going to solve this problem. That's going to make it worse. >> So disgusting, just like virtually all of the left-wing media reaction and increasingly congressional reaction to this. Listen to the snark. He says, "You know, the vast majority of political violence in the United States is right-wing. 4% of it is leftwing. I condemn that 4%. And I condemn that 4%. [Music] And we need to talk about guns. We need to talk about guns. The murder weapon wa