David Smith: Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian on FBI releasing photos of possible Charlie Kirk gunman

The FBI is releasing images of the latest person of interest following the shooting of Charlie Kirk. 

The highly influential conservative activist was shot at an event at Utah Valley University yesterday morning and later died in hospital. 

The manhunt continues for the person responsible after two people were questioned but later released from custody. 

Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian David Smith has the latest out of the US. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just go to the US now, where a man hunt's
still underway for the killer of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
David Smith is the Washington bureau chief of the Guardian,
with US Live this morning. David, the FBI has just
held a press conference. What's the latest on this man hunt.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, well, the FBI released images of this suspect. They
say they've recovered a weapon, but otherwise the manhunt continues.
There have been various rumors flying around about, you know,
what's something engraved on this bullet that is certainly not
confirmed so far, and we still don't know much about

(00:36):
who this is, what the motive might be, but certainly,
as you can imagine, a tragedy that is dominating many
headlines and much attention in America right now.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
David, what do they think was inscribed on the bullet?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, there were some media reports suggesting that there were
statements there about fascism and about trans gender ideology and
so on. I think some members of Congress on the
Republican side have been quick to seize on that, but
just to underline, that has not been officially confirmed. So yeah,

(01:13):
it's very hard at this moment to discern the veracity
of that, and I think worth recalling that in other
major incidents such as this, like the attempt at assassination
of Donald Trump, you get a social media pylon of
people rushing to ascribe the motives once I try to
blame the other, and then later we often discover maybe

(01:36):
that was wrong or false, or maybe the motives who
are quite complex, or I think in the case of
the first Trump assassination attempt, we you know, last year,
we still don't really know what the motive was.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
David, appreciate that update. Thanks so much for being with me.
David Smith, Washington bureau chief for The Guardian. The nets
closing in, they've got a footwear impression, they've got a
photo of the guy they think did it or a
strong person of interest, and a forearm print as well.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
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