In the hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, details about his attacker remained elusive, and social media users and live TV commentary filled the void with false information.
As of late afternoon on September 11, the day after the shooting at Utah Valley University, where Kirk had been speaking, authorities did not have the shooter in custody and had not released any suspect’s name.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents “have been working around the clock in coordination with our law enforcement partners,” FBI special agent Robert Bohls said during a news conference on Thursday. “We are and will continue to work nonstop until we find the person that has committed this heinous crime and find out why they did it.”
Two people were taken into custody on the day of the shooting, but neither was the culprit, and both were released.
The FBI released images on Thursday of a “person of interest” and asked the public for help identifying the attacker.
Here’s a rundown of what didn’t happen, despite claims to the contrary.
About an hour after the shooting, before Kirk’s death was announced, political commentator Matthew Dowd suggested during an MSNBC broadcast that the sniper could have been a Kirk supporter.
“We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or – so we have no idea about this,” Dowd said.
While the attacker remains at large, there is no evidence that the...
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