"We got him": Charlie Kirk's alleged killer arrested after 33 hours of manhunt

The arrest was announced Friday morning by Donald Trump and confirmed by authorities at a press conference in Orem, the Utah city where Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck Wednesday during a public debate on a university campus.

"We got him," said Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, identifying the suspect as Tyler Robinson.

The 22-year-old lived in St. George , a city four hours south, surrounded by the red canyons of the American West.

In the housing estate where he lived, the neighbors hardly knew him: they were more familiar with his car than his face.

"Who would have thought that this skinny little man who was getting in and out of his car would be capable of committing such a heinous act?" Heather McKnight, a former neighbor who had recently moved out, told AFP.

"He was always distant, he never said hello, he didn't want to talk or establish good neighborly relations," she added.

He was arrested Thursday evening, after a 33-hour manhunt , at his parents' home in the nearby city of Washington. Neighbors there remember him as a brilliant teenager.

"I always thought he would become a businessman or a CEO, rather than what I'm learning about him now," said Jaida Funk, a 22-year-old who spent time with him in elementary and middle school between the ages of 5 and 16. "It's really unexpected."

"Battle cry"

On Friday night, Erika Kirk paid tribute to her husband, who died a "martyr," visibly distraught, standing next to the chair from which he hosted his popular podcast.

" Those who do evil and are responsible for the assassination of my husband have no idea what they have done . (...) You have no idea what you have just unleashed in this entire country, in this world. (...) The tears of this widow will resonate throughout the world like a battle cry," she said, multiplying the religious references.

Donald Trump had explained on Fox News that " someone very close" to the alleged killer "had denounced him" , adding that the suspect's father himself and a religious leader had played a role.

According to the Utah governor, a family member of Tyler Robinson contacted an acquaintance who approached a law enforcement officer to say that Robinson "had confided in them or implied that he was the shooter."

Authorities have not yet given a motive.

But messages, sometimes confusing, were written on ammunition found near the crime scene, such as "Hey fascist! Grab that!" or "Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao," named after the famous Italian anti-fascist song.

Climate of political violence

Charlie Kirk's body was transported Thursday on Vice President J.D. Vance's plane to Phoenix, Arizona, the headquarters of his organization, Turning Point USA, which he co-founded in 2012 at the age of 18, and which has become the largest conservative youth group in the United States in a decade.

A father of two from the Chicago suburbs, a Christian and gun rights advocate, Kirk dropped out of college early to pursue activism.

Donald Trump, who planned to attend her funeral, had blamed the "radical left" on the day of the tragedy before calling for restraint.

On Friday on Fox News, the American president, himself the target of two assassination attempts last year, again attacked left-wing "extremists" and his favorite targets, including former President Joe Biden and billionaire George Soros.

The United States, a country with more guns in circulation than people , has seen a surge in political violence in recent years.

Already this year, Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, and another state representative was seriously injured.