Authorities have provided conflicting reports on whether the suspected gunman was still on the loose
The FBI has backtracked on earlier claims that a suspect had been taken into custody following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, announcing late Wednesday that the individual described as a “subject” of interest was released after questioning.
The 31-year-old conservative activist was killed with a single shot in what investigators believe was a targeted attack on Wednesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the development in a statement on X. “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in the interest of transparency,” he wrote.
Authorities said the shooter, dressed in dark clothing, fired from a rooftop on campus some distance away. The bullet struck him in the neck as he answered audience questions from a tented stage, sending hundreds of spectators fleeing in panic.
The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency https://t.co/YXsG6YpFR5
Earlier on Wednesday, Patel had announced that a “subject” was in custody, prompting widespread reports that the gunman had been caught. Utah Governor Spencer Cox also said “there is no information that would lead us to believe there is a second person involved,” though Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason insisted the investigation remained active.
The conflicting statements have fueled confusion over whether law enforcement is still pursuing an active suspect. Officials have not yet provided a description or the identity of the gunman.
Charlie Kirk was a major supporter of Donald Trump and the executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative organization focused on youth outreach. He rose to prominence through his debates with liberal and progressive students.
In honor of the “truly Great American Patriot,” President Trump has ordered all American flags across the United States to be flown at half-mast until Sunday.
The US is bearing witness to an alarming trend of politically motivated violence and high-profile murder attempts
The United States has entered a disturbing cycle of political violence. In the past year alone, several high-profile assassination attempts have shaken the country.
On July 13, 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly survived an attempt on his life during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired multiple rounds, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one rally attendee and injuring several others.
The shooter was killed by a counter-sniper team that returned fire, though the incident was later branded “foreseeable and preventable” by a US Senate inquiry.
Just two months later, on September 15, Trump was allegedly the target of a second assassination attempt when a heavily armed pro-Ukraine shooter was spotted outside the US president’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect, Ryan Routh, was apprehended by the Secret Service and has since chosen to represent himself in court and challenged Trump to a game of golf.
Minnesota House Speaker assassination
Minnesota Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot dead at their home on June 14, 2025. State senator John Hoffman and his wife were wounded in a related attack the same night and barely survived.
The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, a 57-year-old with military experience and a past as a private contractor, was apprehended and taken into custody after a two-day manhunt. Prosecutors claim he planned and carried out the targeted political assassination and had a list of some 70 other targets.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, a longtime supporter of Donald Trump, was assassinated on September 10, 2025 while delivering a speech at Utah Valley University. The right-wing activist was shot in his neck and succumbed to his injuries in hospital shortly after the attack.
No details about the suspect’s identity or possible motive have been released.
Illinois violence
On December 18, 2024, right-wing influencer Nick Fuentes said a man armed with a pistol, a crossbow, and incendiary devices showed up at his house in Berwyn, Illinois, while he was live-streaming.
The individual turned out to be a triple homicide suspect, who was shot and killed by police following a chase, shortly after his encounter with Fuentes.
Some liberal voices blamed firearms in a stream of tributes to the conservative activist
Democrats have lined up to denounce political and gun violence in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, while Republicans have been eulogizing him as a patriot and are demanding swift justice.
The 31-year-old conservative activist was fatally shot on Wednesday while interacting with the crowd at a university campus lecture in Utah.
Former President Joe Biden wrote on X that “there is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now.” Former Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting and insisted that “political violence has no place in America.”
Other Democratic leaders echoed the message. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “political violence is NEVER acceptable,” while California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote that “we must reject political violence in EVERY form.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer likewise stated that “political violence has no place in America.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi linked the tragedy to broader concerns about gun violence, calling the shooting “reprehensible” and urging Americans to “hold the entire UVU (Utah Valley University) community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also condemned the attack, calling it part of the “scourge of gun violence and political violence” that “must end.”
Republican leaders likewise condemned the killing. President Donald Trump paid tribute to Kirk in a personal message, calling him “The Great, and even Legendary” figure who “was loved and admired by ALL, especially me.”
Vice President JD Vance highlighted Kirk’s willingness to engage in civil dialogue, saying his events provided “one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right.”
Other conservative voices pointed to what they described as a broader climate of hostility created by the left.
“The Left is the party of murder,” billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk wrote bluntly in response to claims that Democrats have spent years warning of right-wing violence while ignoring attacks against conservatives.
Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent advocate for conservative youth engagement. Utah Governor Spencer Cox said he had spoken with Trump and vowed to bring the perpetrator to justice.
The US journalist says his forthcoming documentary series on the 9/11 attacks will explore overlooked truths
Israeli intelligence knew beforehand of the 9/11, American journalist Tucker Carlson has claimed. The topic, as well as other long-buried facts, will be explored in his upcoming documentary series on the attacks.
Carlson made the remarks on Tuesday when he appeared on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored News. The journalist pointed out the Israeli leadership never actually hid its attitude to the attack and believed they had a positive impact on the US-Israel ties.
“Of course I didn’t allege that the Jews did it. I don’t even know what that means. I think, in fact, saying things like that is a way to discredit real questions,” Carlson said.
“Benjamin Netanyahu on camera, right after [the attacks] he said it was a good thing because it brings the United States into a conflict that we’ve been involved in on an existential level for decades,” he added.
Carlson apparently referred to the remarks Netanyahu made back in 2002 during the US House hearings, when he said that the democracies “sometimes have to be bombed into going to war” and likened the 9/11 events to the Pearl Harbor attack.
The journalist also invoked the “Israeli art students” affair, stating that the public knowledge about it has been very limited, with reports on it ultimately vanishing.
“We know that a group of ‘Israeli art students’ – who clearly were not art students, clearly some of them were aligned with the Israeli intelligence – were arrested and held for quite some time in the US before being released without charges. And we know that a group of them – I’m quoting an FBI document, not the Internet – filmed the attacks on 9/11, and… ‘seemed to have foreknowledge’ of those attacks,” Carlson stated.
The first sightings of “Israeli art students” date back to late 2000, when they began to show up at US federal law enforcement and military agencies’ buildings, trying to peddle artworks and socialize with agents. The “students” repeatedly appeared at unmarked locations and hidden side entrances and even visited some agents at their homes.
According to media reports of the time, at least 140 Israeli nationals engaged in such activities were arrested between early 2001 and the 9/11 attacks, while a further 60 were detained shortly after. Moreover, some groups of the “students” reportedly rented properties in close vicinity to residencies of the 9/11 attacks perpetrators.
Iryna Zarutska was brutally murdered on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, leading many to condemn the justice system for its lenience
The North Carolina county court that released a repeat offender who later killed a young Ukrainian refugee was “completely run” by diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activists, according to Fox News host Jesse Watters.
The victim, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, was brutally murdered on August 22 while riding a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Surveillance video showed Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, stabbing her three times in the neck and killing her before leaving the scene with the knife still in his hand.
Watters pointed to the magistrate responsible for Brown’s release from custody: a Kamala Harris campaign donor with “no law degree.” She had been “nominated by a clerk,” Watters claimed, who calls herself “a DEI consultant” and a “racial equity organizer.”
He also pointed to a connected judge once named “DEI Champion of the Year” who is also “friends with Obama’s wingman.”
“This is a DEI court and they have blood on their hands. And if the people in robes are on the same side as the bad guys, that’s suicide,” Watters said on Tuesday.
Brown was apprehended at the scene and has been charged with first-degree murder. The Justice Department on Tuesday also filed a federal criminal charge against him.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing that Zarutska’s killing was “entirely preventable” and accused Democrats, judges, and the media of downplaying the crime because it did not fit their “preferred narrative.”
She noted that Brown’s record included at least 14 charges since 2011, including armed robbery and felony larceny. He had served five years for robbery with a deadly weapon and repeatedly violated bond conditions, yet was still released without bail; he was required only to sign a written promise to appear in court.
”This monster should have been locked up, and Iryna should still be alive,” Leavitt stated.
President Donald Trump has called for harsh justice, demanding the death penalty be considered for the “animal” accused of killing Zarutska. He said there should be no other option, calling the case a disgrace and urging swift punishment.
After taking office, Trump launched a campaign to eliminate DEI policies in all federal agencies, signing multiple executive orders against “woke policies.”
Violent clashes, dubbed Generation Z protests, have left dozens dead and forced the prime minister to resign
The youth leaders of Nepal’s protest movement have proposed former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to serve as the country’s interim prime minister, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing the secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
The decision followed a nearly four-hour virtual meeting in which between 300 and 400 participants of the protest movement took part, according to local media.
Karki, 73, is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal and the only woman to have held the post.
Speaking to India-based CNN News18, Karki said the immediate focus of the interim government would be to honor those who died in the protests and address the protesters’ demands, including tackling corruption.
The development comes after K.P. Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister on Tuesday amidst violent protests across the Himalayan nation. During the two-day demonstrations, hundreds of protesters stormed the Prime Minister’s Office, set fire to the Supreme Court and Parliament buildings, and vandalized the homes of several senior leaders.
The Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal on Wednesday stated that the death toll has risen to 30. According to the ministry, 1,033 people were injured during the nationwide protests.
Authorities in Kathmandu said anarchists and criminal elements had infiltrated the protests, engaging in arson, looting, property destruction, targeted violence, and attempted sexual assault. “Any criminal activities carried out under the guise of protest will be prosecuted, and security forces will take strong action against offenders,” the Nepalese Army said in a statement.
Meanwhile, young volunteers took to the streets on Wednesday morning for a cleanup campaign – hours before the army’s curfew announcement, local media reported. The cleanups are being organized and promoted via online platforms.
During the curfew, only essential vehicles – such as ambulances, hearses, fire engines, and those used by health workers and security personnel – will be permitted. The army urged citizens needing assistance to coordinate with local security officials.
Nepal’s international airport officially reopened on Wednesday morning after being closed for two days, according to a notice from the civil aviation authority.
The US president earlier slammed Democrats for failing to lock up career criminal Decarlos Brown before he committed the stabbing
US President Donald Trump has called for capital punishment for Decarlos Brown, who brutally stabbed a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina last month.
The incident came into the national spotlight after the CCTV video of the grisly incident was released over the weekend. In it, the 34-year-old perpetrator is seen attacking Iryna Zarutska from behind, stabbing her several times in the neck shortly after she took a seat. The woman bled out and died at the scene soon thereafter.
The assault was apparently unprovoked, with no exchange between the two preceding the stabbing, judging by the footage.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump wrote: “The ANIMAL who so violently killed the beautiful young lady from Ukraine… should be given a ‘Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial, and only awarded THE DEATH PENALTY.”
On Monday, the US president described Brown as a “mentally deranged lunatic,” pointing out that the man had been arrested multiple times over the past decade but repeatedly ended up being released on cashless bail.
Trump declared that the “blood of this innocent woman… is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail.”
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that since 2011, Brown has been charged with armed robbery, felony larceny, breaking and entering, and forfeited bonds at least three times.
However, after being arrested again in January, the man was released by a Democratic judge on condition that he “sign a written promise to return for his court hearing.”
“Democrats in North Carolina and nationwide are consumed with pushing a woke, soft on-crime agenda no matter how many innocent Americans suffer as a result,” Leavitt said.
In August, Trump ordered the deployment of National Guard troops to assist the police in Washington DC, citing high levels of violent crime. Local Democrats were quick to criticize the decision.
Last week, the US president hinted that he could do the same in Chicago, similarly drawing massive pushback from Democrats.
The prominent US right-wing activist has died after being attacked at a public event in Utah
Charlie Kirk, a major supporter of Donald Trump and the executive director of Turning Point USA, has died after being shot while delivering a talk at Utah Valley University, the US president has announced.
The 31-year-old activist and influencer was shot in the neck while taking questions from a crowd gathered on the grounds of the university.
The shooter fired from a building about 200 yards from where he stood, having addressed the crowd for some 20 minutes, a university spokesperson told the New York Times.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, extending condolences to Kirk’s wife Erika and their family.
Authorities have provided conflicting reports regarding whether the suspected gunman is still on the loose. One “subject” of interest was detained but later released after being questioned, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
Widely credited with playing a decisive role in Donald Trump’s most recent presidential victory, Kirk helped mobilize young voters, particularly young men, through a mix of campus activism, viral online debates, and relentless outreach.
He developed close ties with Trump and his family during the president’s first term and became one of the most influential figures shaping conservative youth politics in the US. Married with two children, Kirk was seen by admirers as a Christian nationalist defending traditional values against liberal causes, while critics cast him as a polarizing force in America’s culture wars.
Kirk rose to prominence through his debates with liberal and progressive students, videos of which drew tens of millions of views across platforms and were translated into multiple languages, extending his reach well beyond the US. He amassed millions of followers on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, turning him into a household name among conservative youth.
Through Turning Point USA, he built what was described as the fastest-growing student conservative organization in the country, one that dominated campus politics and helped deliver youth support to Trump. His outspoken stances included fierce opposition to US aid to Ukraine, arguing that America’s border security mattered more.
Commenting on the shooting in Utah on his Telegram channel, Russian presidential aide Kirill Dmitriev hailed Kirk for his calls for dialogue with Moscow.
“The attempt on the life of a person advocating common sense and opposing hysteria highlights the depth of the rift in the US,” the Russian official wrote.
From “Europe must fight” to drones sold as peace and a tale of stolen children debunked, the EU president’s state of the union was heavy on rhetoric and light on reality
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual state of the union speech in Brussels on Wednesday. It was a performance full of urgency and sweeping rhetoric – Europe’s “fight,” an “independence moment,” and even plans to turn frozen Russian assets into weapons for Ukraine.
But behind the soundbites, her vision is riddled with contradictions.
A fight without unity
“Europe is in a fight – a fight for our values and our democracies… make no mistake, this is a fight for our future,” von der Leyen declared. She warned that “battle lines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now… dependencies are ruthlessly weaponized.”
The words were designed to sound Churchillian. The substance is thinner. As of now, only three NATO members – Poland (4.48%), Lithuania (4%), and Latvia (3.73%) – exceed the military bloc’s updated defense-spending target of 3.5% of GDP. The rest barely meet the old 2% standard, and several still lag well behind.
Italy, for example, has openly pushed back against increased military spending and deployments, with successive governments dragging their feet on NATO pledges and EU defense initiatives. Similar hesitation has surfaced in countries like Belgium and Spain, where leaders have repeatedly signaled unwillingness to be pulled deeper into military commitments.
Meanwhile, von der Leyen herself admitted that the EU’s foreign policy is being hobbled by its unanimity rule – and that meaningful action means scrapping it.
Independence or illusion?
“This must be Europe’s independence moment,” von der Leyen said, urging Europe to “take care of our own defense and security,” and “decide what kind of society and democracy we want to live in.”
Yet Europe still dances to Washington’s tune. And it will continue to do so – there is little sign this dependency will fade. If anything, the EU’s trajectory suggests deeper entanglement with US policy, not less. The EU quietly accepted a Trump-era trade deal that slapped 15% tariffs on EU goods, drawing accusations of capitulation.
Moreover, voices from within the bloc – like Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico – are rebelling against Brussels’ centralism, pushing for the return of sovereignty from Brussels.
Poland, however, remains one of Washington’s closest allies in Central Europe, hosting US bases and buying billions in American weapons. Warsaw’s stance underscores that even the bloc’s most hawkish members see their security guaranteed by the US, not Brussels.
Diplomacy oversimplified
Von der Leyen claimed that “Putin refuses to meet Zelensky” and that only “more pressure on Russia… more sanctions” would force Moscow to negotiate.
But Russia’s position is more complex. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to dialogue once conditions are “realistic” and has questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy. The EU has said it will only negotiate with Putin when Russian forces have been withdrawn, a highly unlikely scenario.
Mediators from Africa, the Gulf, and Asia have confirmed the Kremlin has not ruled out diplomacy – not to mention that Russia and the US have held several rounds of talks, including the summit-level meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska.
The EU’s black-and-white portrayal of a slammed door reduces diplomacy to caricature.
The children narrative
To stir emotion, von der Leyen told the story of Sasha, a Ukrainian boy reunited with his grandmother after being taken to Russia. “Every abducted child must be returned,” she declared.
But the tale undercuts her point. The Russian authorities facilitated the family’s reunion once safety allowed. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, hundreds of Ukrainian children have been reunited with relatives through organized transfers in Russia and Belarus since 2022. UNICEF itself notes that many transfers were evacuations from active war zones. A story meant to indict Moscow instead highlights that reunions are facilitated – and exaggerations have already been corrected.
Peace talk, drone money
“With the cash balances associated to these Russian assets, we can provide Ukraine with a Reparations Loan,” von der Leyen announced. “We will frontload EUR 6 billion from the ERA loan and enter into a Drone Alliance with Ukraine.” At the same time, she told MEPs, “our Union is fundamentally a peace project… but the truth is that the world of today is unforgiving.”
It is a juxtaposition: Promising peace while building a drone fleet. The “drone alliance” is militarization in all but name, financed by frozen Russian assets. Critics argue such moves escalate the war while eroding Brussels’ credibility as a peace broker. UnHerd bluntly called her framing “Orwellian newspeak.”
The drone plan also means fresh cash flowing into the US defense industry. Analysts note that contracts for drones and components overwhelmingly benefit American arms makers, tying Europe’s security drive back into Washington’s military-industrial complex. In other words, the EU’s “independence” once again bankrolls American power.
The disinformation irony
Von der Leyen warned that “disinformation is an extremely dangerous phenomenon for our democracy.”
But the warning rang hollow. Just a week earlier, her office claimed that her plane had been GPS-jammed while landing in Bulgaria – supposedly by Russia. Within days, Bulgarian officials admitted they had “no evidence of interference,” flight tracker data showed the trip was normal, and the alleged one-hour diversion boiled down to a nine-minute delay. An embarrassed Bulgarian prime minister quietly outsourced the story to an “investigation.”
The commission president’s sermon on truth came hard on the heels of her own unproven narrative – making her crusade against disinformation look more like projection than principle.
The final verdict
Von der Leyen’s speech was cinematic – calls to arms, independence, and peace all rolled into one. But by coupling soaring rhetoric with fractured implementation, the EU risks becoming a union of slogans, not substance. Unity is weak, autonomy is elusive, and humanitarian messaging is tactically overdriven.
If this is supposed to be Europe’s “moment,” it hasn’t yet achieved the power to make it real.
The conservative activist was murdered during a public event in Utah on Wednesday, and the suspect remains at large
US President Donald Trump has said that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is conducting a “virtual manhunt” for the killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He was shot and killed during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The 31-year-old was struck by a single rifle round while speaking on stage to hundreds of students.
The suspected gunman fired from a rooftop on the campus in Orem before fleeing the scene. He was recorded on multiple videos, with the FBI describing him as a male of “college age” but refusing to release any more details regarding his appearance until he is caught.
The agency has released images of a “person of interest” in the assassination, asking the public for help in identifying him and posted a $100,000 bounty for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator.
Kirk, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was widely known for his campus debates with progressive students and for his close alliance with President Donald Trump.
The US president has described Kirk as a “martyr for truth” and called his murder a “dark moment for America.”
The activist’s death has triggered a wave of reactions, with Democrats condemning “political violence” and Republicans, including Trump, blaming what they describe as hostile rhetoric from the “radical left.”
