The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: How a 22-Year-Old Gunman Cut Short the American Comeback Tour in Utah

[00:01] On Wednesday, September 10th, 2025,

[00:04] Charlie Kirk takes the stage at an event

[00:07] in Oram, Utah, addressing a crowd of

[00:09] more than 3,000 people. It is the first

[00:12] stop on his American Comeback Tour,

[00:14] expected to have at least 15 appearances

[00:16] across campuses in America.

[00:20] [cheering]

[00:25] But the tour is cut short by a single

[00:27] bullet fired [music] from approximately

[00:29] 200 yd away.

[00:33] What was that?

[00:34] >> Oh my god.

[00:37] >> What follows is panic, grief, and rage.

[00:42] >> I'm so freaking pissed right now.

[00:44] >> Charlie Kirk had been assassinated in

[00:46] broad daylight. This is how it unfolded.

[00:52] On September 10th, 2025, at 8:29 a.m.,

[00:56] 22-year-old Tyler Robinson arrives at

[00:59] Utah Valley University in [music] a gray

[01:01] Dodge Challenger. He's wearing a maroon

[01:04] t-shirt and light colored [music] shorts

[01:06] and shoes, an outfit that he changes

[01:08] before positioning himself on a rooftop

[01:11] 200 yd away from the Sorenson Center

[01:13] courtyard, [music] where Charlie Kirk is

[01:15] supposed to make an appearance. The

[01:17] shooter stays on campus for roughly 4

[01:20] hours while Charlie takes the stage

[01:22] [music] and starts the event. The

[01:24] opening goes as planned with Kirk's

[01:26] family in attendance. Then comes [music]

[01:28] the most highstakes portion of the

[01:30] event, the prove me wrong table session.

[01:33] >> All right, everybody. Who's ready for a

[01:35] little bit of prove me wrong

[01:37] disagreement?

[01:37] >> This is where attendees get a chance to

[01:39] [music] prove Kirk wrong on a topic of

[01:41] their choice. At around 12:20 p.m.

[01:44] Mountain time, Hunter Kak steps forward

[01:47] with a question about gun control

[01:49] [music] and mass shootings.

[01:51] >> So, do you know how many transgender

[01:52] Americans have been mass shooters over

[01:54] the last 10 years?

[01:56] >> Too many.

[01:59] >> Then it happened.

[02:01] >> Do you know how many mass shooters there

[02:03] have been in America over the last 10

[02:05] years?

[02:06] >> Counting or not counting gang violence?

[02:08] >> Great.

[02:10] At 12:23 p.m., Kirk has been shot.

[02:17] >> Kirk's head jerks backwards as blood

[02:20] comes gushing out of his neck. Students

[02:22] disperse after hearing gunfire.

[02:25] >> Shots fired at UVU Charlie Kurt Turning

[02:27] Point USA event.

[02:40] You guys okay?

[02:42] >> Many seek shelter in indoor spaces.

[02:46] >> There were gunshots.

[02:48] >> Oh my god.

[02:50] >> I think

[02:55] what was

[02:56] >> Yeah.

[02:57] >> What was like a gunshot?

[02:59] >> Okay. So, we're sheltering in place.

[03:01] You're safe. We're not going to let

[03:02] anybody in. Kirk's security and onampus

[03:05] officers cover him before rushing him

[03:07] away from the scene.

[03:12] >> Hey, stop. Stop, folks.

[03:16] >> While most cameras focus on Charlie,

[03:18] many pan around, especially when

[03:20] students [music] spot a suspicious

[03:22] figure on top of a building a few

[03:24] hundred yards away. He appears to be in

[03:26] a sniper position [music] with a clear

[03:28] view of Kirk. Footage from the scene and

[03:31] eyewitness accounts paints [music] a

[03:32] picture of what happens next. On one

[03:35] side, Kirk is carried to a police

[03:37] vehicle parked behind the tent. On the

[03:39] other, the shooter flees the scene

[03:42] before he can be restrained. In one

[03:44] video, he can be seen sprinting off the

[03:46] roof from where the shot was fired. He's

[03:48] also captured on various surveillance

[03:50] cameras around the neighborhood before

[03:52] he goes off the authorities radar. By

[03:55] this time, he has ditched his boltaction

[03:57] rifle in a wooded area where it's found

[04:00] alongside bullet casings with messages

[04:02] engraved on them.

[04:04] >> Inscriptions on the three unfired

[04:06] casings read, "Hey, fascist exclamation

[04:08] point. Catch exclamation point." A

[04:11] second unfired casing read, "Oh, Bella

[04:14] Chow, Bella Chow, Bellachow, Chow Chow."

[04:17] And a third unfired casing read, "If you

[04:20] read this, you are gay." L M N A O

[04:24] >> Saving Kirk's life is a higher priority

[04:26] and he is rushed to the Tempenogus

[04:28] Regional Hospital. He is unconscious

[04:30] [music]

[04:31] and his condition is considered

[04:33] critical. At 2:40 p.m. Mountain [music]

[04:36] time, President Trump confirms via

[04:38] social media that Charlie Kirk [music]

[04:40] has passed away. Finding the shooter

[04:43] becomes an immediate priority. To my

[04:45] great fellow Americans, I am filled with

[04:48] grief and anger at the heinous

[04:50] assassination of Charlie Kirk on a

[04:53] college campus in Utah.

[04:55] >> At 4:21 p.m. Mountain time, FBI Director

[04:58] Cash Patel [music] confirms that a

[05:00] suspect is in custody via a social media

[05:03] post. A few hours later, all statements

[05:06] are retracted and a clarification is

[05:08] issued. [music]

[05:09] >> I know that you have some information

[05:10] from Cash Patel. Yes, he just posted on

[05:13] X that the person of interest that FBI

[05:16] was questioning has now been released.

[05:19] >> The person detained is George Zinn, a

[05:22] 71-year-old who had falsely taken credit

[05:24] for the shooting.

[05:31] He is charged [music] with obstruction

[05:32] of justice. A second suspect is also

[05:35] arrested, but later released. The FBI

[05:38] offers a $100,000 reward for leads that

[05:41] result in the suspect's arrest.

[05:43] >> The suspect still on the loose. An

[05:46] active manhunt is going on right now in

[05:50] Utah.

[05:50] >> The update comes with even more photos

[05:53] and videos, but none of the visuals lead

[05:55] to the suspect's arrest. What gets him

[05:57] caught is his own admission. On Thursday

[06:00] evening, roughly 30 hours after the

[06:03] shooting, [music] Tyler Robinson tells

[06:05] his father that he has shot Kirk.

[06:07] Robinson's [music] father calls a family

[06:09] friend who is also Robinson's youth

[06:11] pastor, and the two convince him to calm

[06:13] down. The pastor, who also [music]

[06:16] serves as a court security officer,

[06:18] calls the authorities to report the

[06:20] [music] information. On September 11th,

[06:22] 2025, at approximately 10 p.m. Mountain

[06:26] time, Tyler Robinson turns [music]

[06:28] himself into the authorities after

[06:30] evading them for 33 hours. He's taken

[06:33] into custody [music] in St. George, 250

[06:35] mi from the university where he had

[06:37] allegedly shot Kirk. On the evening of

[06:39] September 11th, a family member of Tyler

[06:43] Robinson reached out to a family friend

[06:46] who contacted the Washington County

[06:47] Sheriff's Office with information that

[06:50] Robinson had confessed to them or

[06:52] implied that he had committed the

[06:53] incident.

[06:54] >> The next morning at 6:00 a.m. [music]

[06:56] Mountain time, President Donald Trump

[06:58] goes on Fox and Friends to make the

[07:00] arrest public.

[07:01] >> I think uh with a high degree of

[07:03] certainty, we have him

[07:05] >> in custody. Everyone did a great job. We

[07:08] worked with the local police, the

[07:10] governor, everybody did a great job, you

[07:12] know, getting somebody that you start

[07:14] off with absolutely nothing. We started

[07:16] off with the clip that made him look

[07:17] like an ant

[07:18] >> that was almost useless. We just saw

[07:20] there was somebody up there. And uh so

[07:23] much work has been done over the last

[07:24] two and a half days.

[07:25] >> Then Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox goes

[07:29] in front of the media to make a formal

[07:31] announcement.

[07:32] >> Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We

[07:34] got him.

[07:36] On the evening of September 11th, a

[07:39] family member of Tyler Robinson reached

[07:41] out to a family friend who contacted the

[07:44] Washington County Sheriff's Office with

[07:46] information that Robinson had confessed

[07:48] to them or implied that he had committed

[07:50] the incident.

[07:52] >> Robinson's family members are

[07:53] interviewed [music] by the authorities

[07:54] as well as the media, which leads to

[07:57] even more details coming out.

[07:59] Investigators interviewed a family

[08:01] member of Robinson who stated that

[08:03] Robinson had become more political in

[08:05] recent years.

[08:06] >> According to the family member, Robinson

[08:08] [music] had mentioned Kirk's upcoming

[08:10] visit to Utah Valley University in a

[08:12] dinner discussion.

[08:13] >> In a conversation with another family

[08:15] member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk

[08:18] was coming to UVU. They talked about why

[08:20] they didn't like him and the viewpoints

[08:22] that he had. The family member also

[08:25] stated Kirk was full of hate and

[08:27] spreading hate. But according to [music]

[08:29] Trump, it's people like Robinson who

[08:31] were full of hate. World leaders

[08:33] everywhere have made statements

[08:34] criticizing political violence and

[08:37] expressing sympathy for Kirk's family.

[08:39] >> We lost an incredible American today. If

[08:42] you knew him, you love him. His name is

[08:43] Charlie Kirk.

[08:44] >> The death of Charlie Kirk has riled up

[08:46] the right, not just in America, but in

[08:49] other countries as well. And while

[08:51] Robinson has yet to be convicted in a

[08:53] court of law, he has already become a

[08:55] symbol of political violence in the

[08:57] court of public opinion.