Trump reveals crucial tip-off that led to arrest of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin

Donald Trump has revealed Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin was finally taken into custody after the accused killer’s father turned him in to law enforcement.

‘I think with a high degree of certainty we have him in custody,’ the president announced on Fox & Friends Friday morning. 

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, and former student at Utah State University was arrested Thursday night following a tip-off from his family members. 

Trump revealed how the manhunt finally came to an end when ‘somebody who was very close’ to the suspect turned him in to police – referring to the tipster as the assassin’s ‘minister’ and ‘father’. 

‘It was a minister who was involved with law enforcement… his good friend is a top U.S. Marshal – and they took it from there,’ Trump said. 

Trump’s announcement came just two days after the conservative luminary was gunned down during an event on a college campus in Utah, in a horrific moment that was captured on video and shared across the globe. 

Trump said he now wants to see the killer get the death penalty for the assassination of the man he described as the ‘finest person’.

‘Well, I hope he’s going to be found guilty, I would imagine and I hope he gets the death penalty,’ Trump said. 

‘What he did, Charlie Kirk, he was the finest person that, he didn’t deserve this. He worked so hard and so well, everybody liked him.’ 

Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed Robinson’s arrest in a press briefing Friday morning.

‘We got him. On the evening of September 11, 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,’ Cox said during a news conference on Friday. 

Robinson’s family members told police the 22-year-old had become ‘more political in recent years’, Cox said.

They described incidents where Robinson had come to dinner and ‘mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU and mentioned why he didn’t like him’.

The family members also stated that Kirk ‘was full of hate and spreading hate’.

Law enforcement then contacted Robinson’s roommate who directed officers to the suspect’s Discord platform.

The roommate said Robinson had messaged him asking to retrieve his rifle, wrapped in a towel in some bushes, Cox said.

The murder weapon – a high-powered, bolt-action rifle – was found by investigators in the woods close to UVU.

Unspent rounds found with the firearm had been engraved with bizarre messages including: ‘Hey Fascist! Catch!’, ‘If you read this you are Gay, LMAO’ and ‘Oh Bella ciao Bella ciao Bella ciao’.

Robinson had arrived on the UVU campus driving a gray Dodge Challenger, before opening fire on the 31-year-old conservative influencer.

Cox said the suspect changed clothing on the roof in order to avoid detection. He was dressed in a plain maroon T-shirt, light-colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo and light-colored shoes.

Robinson was wearing clothing ‘consistent’ with this outfit when he was detained around 10pm local time Thursday, Cox said.  

FBI Director Kash Patel claimed the capture of the suspect was ‘historic’ – patting the bureau on the back for bringing the manhunt to an end within 33 hours.  

The 22-year-old confessed to his father, Matt Robinson, that he was the shooter, sources told the Daily Mail. His father then tipped off law enforcement and secured his son until officers arrived. 

The suspect’s mother, Amber Robinson, works for Intermountain Support Coordination Services, a company contracted by the state of Utah to help disabled people receive care.

The alleged shooter lived in a $600,000 six-bedroom home in Washington, Utah – around 260 miles south of where the carnage unfolded in Orem.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has signaled he plans to seek the death penalty, he said.

‘In Utah, they have the death penalty, and you have a very good governor there,’ Trump said. 

‘The governor, I’ve gotten to know him, the governor is very intent on the death penalty in this case.’

The president had traveled to his longtime home of New York City on Thursday for the September 11 Yankees’ remembrance game. He stayed overnight and went in studio for his interview with Fox & Friends. 

The arrest comes just hours after officials admitted they had ‘no idea’ where the shooter was and enlisted the public’s help, sharing new surveillance footage of the suspect moments after the attack.

The FBI also offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. 

In the video, the shooter is seen running across the roof of the Lossee Center at Utah Valley University and jumping to the ground, before fleeing the scene.

Officials said the shooter left behind a palm print and a shoe print from a pair of Converse sneakers.

The suspect is then believed to have fled to a nearby residential neighborhood, where surveillance footage captured him casually walking by.

Officials said the shooter appeared to be ‘of college age’. 

Photos show him dressed in dark clothes with aviator sunglasses, a black mask, Converse shoes and a patriotic t-shirt that reads ‘land of the free, home of the brave’.

Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha canceled their plans to go to New York City for Ground Zero services on Thursday to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to join Kirk’s family.

Vance was seen carrying Kirk’s casket along with his wife, two kids, parents and close friends aboard Air Force Two back to his home state of Arizona. 

Kirk, 31, was speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem at around 12.20pm on Wednesday.

The MAGA influencer was taking questions from students among a 3,000-strong crowd during Kirk’s ‘American Comeback’ event.

He had just taken a question about mass shootings and gun violence when a single shot was fired from the roof of the Losee Center – around located 200 yards away. 

Kirk was struck in the neck – sending him toppling over in his chair. 

Crowds fled the scene in terror while Kirk’s security detail rushed toward him.

The father of two was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Trump announced Kirk’s death a couple of hours later, declaring: ‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead.

‘He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’

Trump ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff in his memory.