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Classes resume 1 week after Kirk death

FBI director faces more questions at Capital

USA Today

..... Students returned to class at Utah Valley University one week after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on campus, as new information trickles out about the murder suspect and FBI Director Kash Patel faced more questions about the case on Capitol Hill.
..... Kirk, a close ally of Trump administration and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on September 10, [2025] while speaking to a crowd of thousands of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. the campus was closed for several days before reopening to faculty and staff in phases this week. [[09/16/2025]
..... "The tragic death of Charlie Kirk on our campus on September 10 [2025] has shaken our community. We have witnessed a tragic event, but in the coming days, I an confident that our core value of exceptional care will see us through as we begin to move forward," said Astrid S. Turminez, the resident of Utah Vally University, in a statement.
..... The university began a phased return of faculty and students, first reopening campus to employees before resuming student services on September 16. [2025]
..... "This is a defining moment for us all. May we not let hatred overshadow the goodness of our UVU community and what we stand for," Turminez said. "As we come together and open our hearts to kindness and compassion, we will build an even stronger and more caring campus."
..... The suspect in the attack Tyler Roberson, was arraigned on September 16 [2025] on seven felony charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Local prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty, a decision President Donald Trump has publicly supported.

University roof 'readily accessible'

..... Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel appeared September 17 [2025] before the House Judiciary Committee for a second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.
..... Representative Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican from Wisconsin, asked Patel how the suspect shooter gotten to the roof of a campus building to fire the fatal shot that killed Kirk.
..... "Not commenting on the case but having gone to the crime scene and walked the steps that we believe were taken, the roof was actually readily accessible through an exterior stairwell so anyone could've gotten on it," Patel said.
..... Patel repeatedly sought to take credit for releasing photos of the suspected shooter that led to Robinson;s arrest. As a result, Patel told lawmakers the joint FBI-local manhunt for the shooter took 33 hours.
..... By comparison, Patel said, "the Boston Marathon (manhunt) took five days and Luigi Mangione took five days," in reference to the deadly 2013 marathon bombing and the slaying of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. [2025]

Congress calls Discord to testify

..... Patel also said the FBI is working with Discord, the gaming platform where Robinson allegedly communicated, " and we are obtaining materials from them on a rolling basis."
..... A day earlier, Patel told members of Congress that the FBI was investigating scores of people in an Online group that with the alleged gunman.
..... Discord has confirmed the gunman had an account on the platform but said an internal investigation found :no evidence that they suspect planned this incident on Discord or promoted violence on Discord."
..... A U.S. House committee on September 17 [2025] asked the CEOs of Discord, Steam, amazon-owner Twitch, and Reddit to testify at an October 8 [2025] hearing on the radicalization of some Online forum users.
..... "In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the Online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence," said Representative James Comer, chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who called the hearing.

'Let the professionals do their job'

..... During Patel's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 16, [2025] he defended himself and his agency form Democratic lawmakers who seized on conflicting statements released in the immediate aftermath of Kirk's death.
..... Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee , criticized Patel's tweet the night of Kirk's killing that inaccurately announced that a subject was in custody in relation to the investigation.
..... "Mr Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr. Kirk's assassin that he violated one of the basics of affective law enforcement: At critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let the professionals do their job," Durbin said.
...... Patel later said under questioning from Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, that he did not regret the post or see it as a mistake, maintaining that he put that information out as part of his commitment to working with the public.

Obama says violence is being used to 'silence discussion'

..... Former President Barack Obama called the killing of Kirk and other recent acts of political violence "horrific" during a speech September 16, [2025] while criticizing Trump for using the tragedy to stifle debate critical to democracy.
..... Obama, the two-term president who remains one of the most influential forces within the Democratic Party, said Americans should condemn political violence when it occurs but also be free to debate the ideas espoused by the victims of such violence.
..... Speaking to a crowd of 8,000 people at the Eric Insurance Arena, Obama drew sharp differences with Trump throughout the evening, without ever saying the president;s name.
..... "I've noticed that there's been some confusion around this lately coming form the White House and some of the other positions of authority that suggest we're going to identify an enemy, we're going to suggest that somehow that enemy was at fault, and we are then going to sue that as a rationale for trying to silence discussion around who we are as a country and what directions we should go. and that's a mistake," the former president said.

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