Morning Note

Donald Trump told Fox & Friends that Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin is “in custody” on Friday, breaking the news before any law enforcement announcement. 

“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” he said.

This is a developing story.

Watch the president’s announcement here.

Photos and videos of the Charlie Kirk assassination person of interest emerged on Thursday, showing the potential killer leaping off the rooftop sniper’s den and dashing away minutes after the crime.

The video shows the alleged assassin running across the roof of a campus building, slowing near the edge, then scaling down to ground level before nonchalantly walking through a parking lot and towards the wooded area where he left his gun. The FBI is describing him as a “college-aged” man and says he left a palm impression and other smudges that investigators could use to collect DNA. Additional footage shows him moving through a nearby neighborhood before and after the killing.

Other new images show the perspective from the shooter’s sniper nest, revealing the direct angle he had to hit his target.

Read more.

A rifle recovered in the hunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin contained ammunition engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology,” according to law enforcement. You may recall that the murder ironically occurred as Kirk fielded a question about trans shootings. 

Investigators discovered the weapon wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near Utah Valley University. Sources believe a high-caliber round, typically used in long-range sniper rifles or for hunting big game, ended the young father’s life.

Charlie Kirk was notably not a fascist, so it’s worth wondering why someone obsessed with stopping fascism would take him out. The answer is clear. The left has spent years baselessly accusing well-meaning conservatives of being aligned with Nazis and authoritarians, and their rhetoric has driven a sect of unwell Americans to take action. That’s why Kirk is gone, and why Donald Trump nearly lost his life, too.

CNN sought to downplay this report on Thursday, writing that “a range of phrases related to cultural issues were found scrawled on a rifle and ammunition, but it’s not yet clear if they point to a motive.”

Read more.

Donald Trump pledged to posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday. The move will honor the gunned-down father of two with America’s highest civilian recognition. 

“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president said while speaking at the Pentagon. “Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika, and his beautiful children. Fantastic people they are. We miss him greatly. I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”

Trump and Kirk enjoyed a years-long close personal relationship, and the Turning Point USA founder was a frequent visitor to the White House. The president credited his friend with aiding his 2024 victory in May, and Kirk lobbied him against caving to neocons and bombing Iran around the same time. 

Read more here and watch Trump’s announcement here.

America’s most soulless leftists celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk. Many are losing their jobs as a consequence. University of Michigan academic advisor Lydia Fettig called the killing “prudent” and “rational,” and plenty of other examples exist. 

Read more here, if you can stomach it.

Feminist website Jezebel published an article bragging about paying Etsy witches to “curse” Charlie Kirk on September 8th, just two days before his murder. The piece slammed the Turning Point USA founder while recounting forking over cash for “multiple curses” on him.

“Are you interested in punishing Kirk for the years of regressive rhetoric he’s shouted at America’s youth and anyone within earshot?” the disturbing article read. It then detailed how the witches placed the “MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM” spell and “POWERFUL HEX SPELL” on the now-killed father of two.

The outlet replaced the piece with an editor’s note saying it was satire after the assassination. The now-deleted article is available here. Does it come across as satire to you?

Read more.

The right was in turmoil, and Charlie Kirk faced a decision. 

Which side should he take?

His first option would have been the easy way out. Charlie easily could have played it safe and joined the GOP neocons, donors, and special interests pushing with all their might for a war with Iran. Such a move would have greatly pleased the powerful, yielded an enormous fortune, and aligned himself with forces able to support his career and business no matter what. 

The problem, of course, was that doing so would have been an abandonment of his values. As the American with perhaps the single most knowledge of what young voters’ desires, Charlie knew risking another Middle East forever war would not serve our country. So he visited the Oval Office to tell the president just that.

He didn’t scream. He wasn’t disrespectful. He calmly made his case. 

Think about the bravery that required. Charlie knew many of Turning Point USA’s financial backers would be furious at him for standing against neocon foreign policy, but he did it anyway because he believed it was right. How many other leading political figures would have done that? It’s a short list. 

The purpose of revisiting this story is not to start a policy debate. It’s to recognize Kirk’s character. Even if you disagree with his position, you have to acknowledge the deep principle required for him to express it to Donald Trump in the way he did. Staying quiet would have been far easier. He spoke up anyway. Such courage defines his legacy.