kirk-sniper-sent-text-messages-before-killing-fbi-says – Los Angeles Times
Federal officials announced on Monday that the investigators found DNA and other evidence connecting Tyler Robinson to the deadly shooting of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk while the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, faces an in -depth examination in his management during the investigation.
Patel said on Monday that Robinson had sent an SMS before the shooting, saying he had the opportunity to “remove” Kirk and “he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie defended”. We do not know who Robinson sent the text or if this person alerted the police. A similar message would have been contained in a note that was destroyed but recovered by the police, Patel at Fox News told.
“We learned shocking things when we talked to his family and friends,” said Patel in the interview.
The FBI said that he had collected a screwdriver containing Robinson’s DNA on the roof of a building at the University of Utah Valley and a firearm wrapped in a towel that had been thrown into a neighboring wooded area. The towel also had Robinson’s DNA on it, said Patel, adding that the firearm was still under treatment for forensic evidence.
Kirk, 31, was a beloved figure of the conservative movement which, in death, praised the use of the dialogue to assert its argument. He was known for his noted and hard -right opinions on animated subjects such as abortion, immigration and gender identity, comments that have often aroused ferocious criticism, especially on the university campuses he visited. His death by a single shot during a talking commitment to the University of Utah Valley shocked the nation and led to a vigorous debate on the motivations that would have led Robinson, the 22 -year -old arrested for murder.
Utah Spencer Cox governor stops when he speaks at a press conference on Friday in Orem, Utah.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
During a series of interviews on Sunday morning, the governor of Utah Spencer Cox said that Robinson subscribed to a “left -wing ideology” and radicalized after abandoning Utah State University in 2021. Robinson’s parents are registered Republicans. Their son is not affiliated with any political party and apparently has more liberal opinions, the authorities said.
Robinson did not cooperate with the investigators, but the people closest to him worked with the police, said Cox. So far, Robinson’s friends have painted an image of a young radicalized in the dark corners of the Internet, according to the governor.
“Obviously, there have been many games, friends who confirmed that there was a kind of deep and dark internet culture, Reddit culture and these other dark internet places where this person was going in depth,” said Cox.
FBI’s deputy director Dan Bongino said Robinson had an “obsession” for Kirk on the basis of the FBI has discovered so far, and he examined if others knew the threat he has posed.
“Have they … heard and thought it was a joke? This is what we are trying to discover now,” he told Fox News. “If there is a larger network here, we will distribute it to the public as soon as possible.”
There was a lot of discussions on the partner of Robinson, with whom he lives and who said that Cox “transferred from man to woman”. Cox stressed in a television interview during the weekend that the person had no knowledge of the attack and “was shocked when they discovered it”.
A few moments before he was shot dead on UTAH campus on Wednesday, Kirk was asked by a public member how many mass shots were made by trans people in the United States.
“Too much,” replied Kirk.
The project to prevent violence at Hamline University revealed that the majority of shootings where four or more people were injured in a public place were carried out by men. According to data.
Robinson turned to the police after his father saw images of him in a t-shirt and long-sleeved jeans flashing by television and computer screens in the middle of the FBI radical man hunt for the shooter. The family called their bishop of church – also a neighbor – when Robinson threatened to commit suicide, according to a source of application of the law which was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Cox stressed that the authorities are still trying to determine what has led to fatal shooting and what role, if necessary, political ideology has played in the incident. More information can be revealed on Tuesday when Robinson is to be criminally charged.
“The why behind that … We all draw many conclusions on how someone like this could be radicalized. And I think these are important questions to ask and ask us important questions,” Cox said “meeting the press” of NBC.
FBI director Kash Patel makes remarks on the investigation into the murder of Charlie Kirk while the governor of Utah Spencer Cox looks at him.
(Chris Samuels / The Salt Lake Tribune via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Patel faced criticisms for his publications on X in the hours following the shooting saying that the “subject of the horrible shooting” had been placed in police custody. Less than two hours later, the investigators declared that they had excluded this person as a suspect and released them after questioning. Robinson would not be arrested for another day.
The announcement contrasts strongly with the way in which the FBI and other law enforcement organizations generally manage the arrest of a potential suspect in high -level cases, in particular that where the identity of a suspect cannot be immediately clear. In similar incidents in the past, law enforcement organizations will not often confirm if someone in detention is suspect up to several hours after his detention in order to consolidate their involvement.
The police and the political sources which were expressed under the cover of anonymity declared that the patel message did not align with the prudent approach that the managers generally adopt such situations and have led to numerous questioning the judgment of the director.
Art Acevedo, former police chief of Houston and Austin, said that the lack of patel experience was obvious in the way he managed communications after the shooting.
“It is unacceptable that in a historic culminating point for domestic and foreign threats, the FBI, the main agency to fight them, be directed by someone above his head. Our nation, the FBI and the president deserve better,” said Acevedo.
Former FBI Special Agent Terry Rankhorn said Robinson’s arrest was a huge success for UTAH police and the FBI, despite the premature complaint of the patel that a suspect was in detention.
“I think with hindsight [Patel] I think it’s not wise to say, “We got it,” said Rankhorn. “You do not know that you obtained it until a jury has condemned a person or that there is overwhelming evidence, which, at this stage, I do not think there is important proof.”
Even before flying to Utah on Thursday, Patel held a meeting with higher agents and was unleashed on them. Patel and Bongino declared Thursday morning during the call for blasphemy that they had been subjected to intense pressure to arrest the killer, according to the New York Times, which quoted three people familiar with the exchange. Patel also called agents to Salt Lake City for not having shared photos of the suspect with him earlier.
Patel’s actions seemed to arouse confusion and frustration, even among conservative and right -wing experts and politicians.
“The suspect still in freedom,” said Laura Ingraham, the host of Fox News, published on X after the initial patel announcement of a suspect in detention was incorrect. “Unreal. Take it out. “
Joseph Biggs, a member of proud right -wing boys who were convicted and sentenced for his role in January 6, 2021, assaulting the capital, castigated a patel on social networks.
“Stop all these click baits-you continue to do,” he wrote. “It is improper of the office in which you represent.”
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Patel defended his treatment of the survey, including the publications on the social networks he made on the day of the shooting. He pointed out that the 33 hours that it was necessary to put Robinson in police custody was much faster than many other high -level previous arrests.
“Should I form it a little better in the fire of the moment? Of course. But do I regret having put it? Absolutely not,” he said. “I told the world what the FBI did as we did and I continue to do it.”
Patel is expected to testify before the judicial committees of the Senate and the House on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, on the monitoring of the Patel on the FBI.
