{"id":427025,"date":"2025-09-15T19:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/427025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:34:10","slug":"dna-evidence-links-suspect-to-killing-of-charlie-kirk-fbi-director-says-charlie-kirk-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/427025\/","title":{"rendered":"DNA evidence links suspect to killing of Charlie Kirk, FBI director says | Charlie Kirk shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kash Patel, the director of the FBI<\/a>, has said that DNA evidence found by investigators links the man accused of killing rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk<\/a> to the fatal attack despite his alleged refusal to cooperate with authorities after his arrest.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the conservative-friendly Fox News<\/a> network on Monday morning, Patel said that DNA found on a towel wrapped around the rifle believed to have been used to kill Kirk matches that of the suspect in custody, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.<\/p>\n

The arrest of Robinson was announced Friday, two days into a manhunt set off by Kirk\u2019s killing during an event at Utah Valley University (UVU). Robinson ultimately turned himself over to investigators after a relative recognized him in suspect photos released by investigators after Kirk\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

Patel also said<\/a> that additional DNA found on a screwdriver recovered from the roof of a building on the UVU<\/a> campus also has been \u201cpositively processed for the suspect in custody\u201d.<\/p>\n

The rifle itself, Patel added, is currently being processed at the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) laboratories in Maryland.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s interview, the Fox News hosts also asked Patel about reports that the suspect had written a note prior to the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe written note we believe did exist, and we have evidence to show what was in that note, which is, and I\u2019m going to summarize \u2026 the suspect wrote a note basically saying, \u2018I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I\u2019m going to take it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat note was written before the shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel said there was evidence that the note existed at the home Robinson shared with his partner but it was \u201cdestroyed\u201d. \u201cWe have found forensic evidence of the note, and we have confirmed what that note says because of our aggressive interview posture at the FBI<\/a>,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

In another interview on Monday morning, FBI co-deputy director Dan Bongino told Fox News that Robinson appeared to have exhibited \u201cmultiple warning signs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe co-workers stated he had detached himself when the topic of politics came up and walked away,\u201d Bongino said.<\/p>\n

Bongino added that \u201cbased on statements from family members, friends and some of the messaging we have from the digital footprints left behind that he clearly had some obsession with Charlie Kirk.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Spencer Cox said that Robinson<\/a> was not cooperating with investigators. But, the Republican Utah governor said, authorities were gathering information from family members and people close to Robinson.<\/p>\n

Cox also said that Robinson had come \u201cfrom a conservative family\u201d but that \u201chis ideology was different than his family\u201d. Patel echoed Cox on Monday, accusing Robinson of disliking \u201cwhat Charlie stood for\u201d.<\/p>\n

Patel\u2019s remarks on Monday morning revealing new details in the investigation into Kirk\u2019s killing came amid criticism of his handling<\/a> of the case.<\/p>\n

Hours after the killing, Patel had announced on social media that a \u201csubject\u201d was in custody, only to say in another post a few hours later that the individual had been released after questioning and that the shooter was still at large.<\/p>\n

Dick Durbin, the Democratic senator of Illinois, called Patel\u2019s premature announcement \u201camateur hour\u201d and questioned his professionalism. Conservative activist Christopher Rufo questioned Patel\u2019s leadership<\/a>, saying that it was \u201ctime for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI\u201d, adding that the agency\u2019s director \u201cperformed terribly in the last few days\u201d.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Patel attracted derision after ending a speech at a news conference by saying he would see Kirk one day in \u201cValhalla\u201d, a heaven of sorts for warriors in Norse mythology.<\/p>\n

Patel defended<\/a> his handling of the investigation Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was being transparent,\u201d Patel told Fox News,<\/a> referring to the social media updates. \u201cThe job of the FBI is not just to manhunt the actual suspect, but it\u2019s also to eliminate targets and subjects who are not involved. Could I have worded it a little better? Sure. Do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing and I\u2019m continuing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A motive for Kirk\u2019s killing remains unclear. But more information on that front could come on Tuesday, when Cox said he was expecting Robinson to be formally charged with the killing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, has said that DNA evidence found by investigators links the man…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-427025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115209991991178218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}