FBI releases images of ‘person of interest’ in Charlie Kirk shooting

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":15.83,"text":"US authorities released images of a “person of interest” in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as the investigation into the assassination that has sent shockwaves across America gathered pace."}],[{"start":32.68,"text":"The FBI asked for the public’s help in identifying the individual shown in grainy photographs wearing a hat, dark sunglasses, a long-sleeved T-shirt and denim jeans. It also offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the “identification and arrest of the individual(s) responsible for the murder”."}],[{"start":58.91,"text":"Law enforcement agencies have also obtained video footage of a suspect, described as “college age”, which they have not released."}],[{"start":69.19999999999999,"text":"The FBI launched a manhunt after Kirk, 31, was shot dead on a university campus in Utah by an unknown assailant on Wednesday."}],[{"start":79.88,"text":"Ammunition recovered in the investigation into the killing bore messages expressing antifascist sentiment and others relating to transgender issues, according to a preliminary internal law enforcement bulletin. A person familiar with the matter cautioned that such early bulletins may be inaccurate."}],[{"start":102.03,"text":"The killing has shocked a country contending with deepening political fissures and led to calls by some figures on the right for retribution against what they characterised as inflammatory leftwing rhetoric."}],[{"start":118.46000000000001,"text":"Tensions remained high as Capitol Police responded to a bomb threat at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, a DNC spokesperson said. The threat was deemed not credible."}],[{"start":134.11,"text":"In a video from the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump condemned the attack as a “heinous assassination” and a “dark moment for America”, as he vowed to address what he called “radical left political violence”."}],[{"start":150.75,"text":"At a memorial ceremony on Thursday for those killed at the Pentagon on 9/11, Trump said he would award the presidential medal of freedom, the US’s top civilian honour, posthumously to Kirk."}],[{"start":164.78,"text":"JD Vance, who described Kirk as a “true friend”, helped carry his coffin on to Air Force Two, the vice-president’s official aeroplane, on Thursday evening in Salt Lake City. A funeral for Kirk is expected to be held in Arizona, where he lived."}],[{"start":183.72,"text":"Kirk was speaking with students at an event at Utah Valley University, a public university in Orem, south of Salt Lake City, when he was struck by a bullet in the neck."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":196.05,"text":"Utah officials and the FBI said the shooter was “believed to have fired from the roof of a building” into a courtyard where the event was being held."}],[{"start":208.04000000000002,"text":"As Trump left the White house on Thursday evening he said he had heard law enforcement was “making big progress” in catching the shooter."}],[{"start":218.33,"text":"The shooting was widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike as an act of political violence, but Trump and others on the right blamed the left for the killing."}],[{"start":230.66000000000003,"text":"“We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved,” the president said, describing the shooter as a “total animal”."}],[{"start":244.61,"text":"“The Left is the party of murder,” wrote tech billionaire Elon Musk on his social media platform X, shortly after news of the shooting. Katie Miller, wife of Trump’s close adviser Stephen Miller, wrote that liberals “have blood” on their hands."}],[{"start":262.66,"text":"Kirk’s killing came less than three months after a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband were killed in a targeted attack. This year, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro was the victim of an arson attack and assassination attempt."}],[{"start":280.61,"text":"Trump survived two assassination attempts last summer as he campaigned for the presidency."}],[{"start":287.01,"text":"Kirk, who was married and had two young children, co-founded Turning Point USA, a grassroots organisation that promotes conservative politics at secondary schools and universities."}],[{"start":300.40999999999997,"text":"The group and its campaign arm, Turning Point Action, rallied support for Trump and the Republican party in recent years, especially among younger voters."}],[{"start":312.14,"text":"Kirk hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, an influential daily talk radio programme. A Turning Point spokesperson last year told NBC News the podcast was being downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times a day."}],[{"start":332.57,"text":"His appearance in Utah was billed as the start of an “American Comeback” tour of college campuses. He regularly drew large crowds for what he described as a “prove me wrong table”, where he engaged in often combative question-and-answer sessions with the audience."}],[{"start":352.81,"text":"Campus police at Utah Valley University said more than 3,000 people were at Wednesday’s event."}],[{"start":361.25,"text":"On Thursday, Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Salt Lake City, said agents had recovered a “high-powered, bolt action rifle”, which they believed to have been used in the shooting."}],[{"start":376.4,"text":"“This was a targeted event,” Bohls told a press conference. “We don’t believe that the community is at risk. However, we are exhausting every resource to find him, and we will . . . do so.”"}],[{"start":389.28,"text":"According to the investigators’ bulletin, a .30-calibre hunting gun wrapped in a towel was found in the woods close to the location of the attack, along with three unused rounds with messages on them."}],[{"start":405.36999999999995,"text":"Beau Mason, commissioner of Utah’s department of public safety, told reporters that investigators had tracked the shooter’s movements before and after the attack, and obtained “good video footage” of the person."}],[{"start":433.05999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1757634842_7784.mp3"}