FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Monday that the FBI is “looking into” other possible accomplices in the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk last week.
“If this was a larger effort, if there was any aiding and abetting, whether it be financial, whether it be someone who knew the specifics of it and failed to report that, … we’re looking into that,” he said in a Fox News interview, later adding, “There’s not going to be a stone left unturned.”
Only one person, identified by law enforcement as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, is in police custody and is suspected of shooting and killing Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10.
Robinson also had allegedly voiced violent aspirations prior to the attack, Bongino said, adding that such a scenario happens “a lot in targeted violence cases, assassinations, school shootings, where the individual expresses in advance his desire to do these specific things.”
The suspect’s co-workers and family members told officials that Robinson became more political and withdrawn before the assassination attempt, Bongino said, appearing to corroborate a statement made by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox last week when the arrest was announced.
“It appears from the data we’ve accumulated that this ideology had infected him and had taken over,” Bongino said. “He was intent on making Charlie his target, and people may have known in advance.”
While noting that the investigation is ongoing, the FBI deputy said that “it’s fairly obvious this was an ideologically motivated attack” and that Kirk “sadly and tragically gave his life underneath a sign asking people to challenge his ideas—the very essence of our constitutional republic.”
The comments come as other members of the Trump administration, as well as President Donald Trump himself, have signaled they would investigate and track down any groups found to be involved in Kirk’s assassination.
“When you’re watching the video, it appears that the gun is either in the backpack or on him,” he said. “This is where we got a significant portion of the forensic evidence, which was the key piece of information that cracked this thing open.”
Bongino, who said that Kirk was a close friend of his, said the FBI’s response to the case should serve as a reassurance to the public.
“We got our guy in 33 hours. Next time, when there’s a crisis, we’ll look at what we can do well and what we can do better,” he said. “We can do better than that.”
It’s not clear whether Robinson has an attorney or not. A spokesperson for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office told The Epoch Times that Robinson was moved to a “special watch” area of the county jail until he is cleared by mental health staff, which the spokesperson said “may take several days.”
“After cleared by mental health, he will proceed through our classification process to determine the appropriate housing area,” the office said, adding it’s not clear whether there’s a risk of Robinson committing suicide.
On Sunday, Cox said in several media interviews that Robinson has not confessed to the shooting and is not cooperating with the investigation, adding that his friends paint a picture of someone radicalized on the internet who had left-leaning political viewpoints.
Cox indicated to NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that people around Robinson have cooperated with law enforcement, including Robinson’s roommate and “romantic partner,” who Cox described as an individual “who is transitioning from male to female.”
“Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on,” Cox said on NBC in an interview on Sunday. “Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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