Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson reportedly confessed to killing on a group chat: Latest updates

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries didn’t attend a prayer vigil for the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk Monday evening because of a scheduling conflict.

Led by House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, congressional Republicans held an event on Capitol Hill Monday evening to pay their respects to Kirk.

When asked why he didn’t attend the vigil, Jeffries told CNN’s Ellis Kim, “We had a steering and policy committee meeting.”

Vice President JD Vance attacked a pair of prominent progressive philanthropies for allegedly funding The Nation magazine, after the outlet published a highly critical piece about Charlie Kirk following the activist’s assassination.

During a taping of Kirk’s podcast with Vance standing in as the host, the vice president criticized the Ford Foundation and George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations for funding a “disgusting article” about Kirk.

“There is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers, who argue that Charlie Kirk — a loving husband and father — deserved a shot to the neck because he spoke words with which they disagreed,” Vance said on the show.

The piece Vance is likely referring to in fact condemns all political violence, though it argues Kirk was a hateful “bigot.”

Neither foundation appears to have funded the magazine in at least five years, and the Nation’s president said on X the magazine has never gotten funds from Open Society.

Tyler Robinson, who is expected to be charged on Tuesday, could face the firing squad in Utah if he is convicted for the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

“The state government is prosecuting now, and they will most likely indict tomorrow or later this week,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday night in an interview with Fox News. “They will indict him for first-degree murder, and I think the governor has said they want to seek the death penalty, which is very real in Utah—and they still have the firing squad there.”

The Trump administration and Republican members of Congress have sought to punish individuals they allege are celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death and inciting further violence through private comments and social media posts.

In the wake of Kirk’s death, allegations have moved quickly from conservative activists to GOP politicians to the highest levels of law enforcement in the Trump administration, and academics accused of celebrating Kirk’s death have been put in termination proceedings and suspended.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a podcast interview on Monday individuals celebrating Kirk’s death could be prosecuted for “hate speech,” while Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon suggested on Monday such comments from university educators could imperil federal education funding.

Tyler Robinson, the suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, spoke about the plot before and after the shooting, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

“Through witness interviews from the FBI and local law enforcement, he essentially admitted after the shooting an assassination attempt on Charlie Kirk,” Patel told Fox News on Monday night. “I will say what was found in terms of information—a text was found where the suspect specifically stated that he had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do that. When he was asked why, he said some hate cannot be negotiated with.”

Police in Loveland, Colorado, are investigating a suspected arson attack after a resident’s memorial for murdered political commentator Charlie Kirk was set on fire and a rock thrown onto their vehicle.

Authorities arrived at the 200 block of East 23rd Street just before midnight on 13 September to find extensive damage caused to the memorial and the resident’s car, a news release from Loveland police said.

The memorial had been placed on the resident’s front-yard fence, police said, and displayed a sign that said “RIP Charlie Kirk, we stand with you”. It was surrounded by solar lights and US flags, according to The Coloradoan.

The fire was extinguished and an arson investigator has taken control of the scene. Authorities believe the attack was politically motivated.

Less than two weeks before Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah, a sheriff’s department in central California conducted three days of reconnaissance to prepare for a speech by the conservative firebrand at a local church in politically friendly territory.

Officials researched potential escape routes and identified local activists opposed to Kirk. On the day of the indoor event in Visalia, which drew 2,000 people, some 60 law enforcement officials monitored Kirk’s movements to and from the church, even deploying a drone to secure surrounding rooftops, said Tulare County sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

“The very nature of Charlie Kirk coming in requires you take special attention to the nuances of what could possibly happen,” Boudreaux told the Associated Press.

“He’s a high profile name and personality. Not only do we have to provide for the safety of people attending, we have to provide for the safety of him.”By contrast, Kirk’s outdoor event at Utah Valley University last week was out in the open, but with far less security.

Six campus police officers — about a quarter of the force — worked the event, which drew 3,000 people, Jeff Long, the campus police chief, said last week.

The department hasn’t said whether they inspected nearby rooftops; the suspect shot and killed Kirk from atop a building hundreds of feet away.

More here.

Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, posted a video on Instagram on Monday of the late conservative activist telling their daughter how the two parents met.

In the clip, Charlie Kirk tells his daughter, who is sitting on his lap, how the couple got together after they met during a job interview in New York City.

“Right near this very table is the first time dada met mama, and it started as a job interview,” Kirk says.

After realizing Erika was “beautiful and smart and elegant and Christ-like,” Kirk tells his daughter, “I said, ‘Forget this job interview, I want to date you.’”