FBI releases photos of a person of interest in Kirk assassination

Investigators released two images of the person and appealed for tips to help solve the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters.

The unidentified suspect is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot, authorities said Thursday. A high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack was recovered, and video recordings of the person they believe was responsible are being reviewed.

Kirk’s assassination renews attention to escalating threats of political violence in the United States that cut across the ideological spectrum. His killing is drawing bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence appears elusive.

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Wiles says Trump received texts and phone calls Wednesday night from foreign leaders on Kirk

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says the messages and calls to the president were from European and Asian leaders expressing condolences about Kirk.

“Charlie was very much a part of this family and maybe the highest profile MAGA person outside of those that are working here,” Wiles said Thursday in an interview on the radio show hosted by Republican strategist Scott Jennings.

“I think it shook everybody to their core,” she added.

On Kirk’s X account, Turning Point says group ‘crushed and devastated’

Posthumously posting under Kirk’s X handle, the organization he founded remembered Kirk on Thursday as “a leader, a mentor, and a friend.”

The post’s authors also noted that Kirk was “no stranger to threats,” receiving “thousands of them throughout his life.”

Alongside the post appeared a black and white image of Kirk walking onstage at a Turning Point event, with the lights and pyrotechnics that have become the organization’s trademark.

Prior to Thursday’s post, Kirk’s final X message had been several hours before he was shot Wednesday, concerning the stabbing death of a young Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte, North Carolina, commuter train last month.

Bomb threat at DNC headquarters ‘not credible,’ party spokesperson says

A bomb threat at the DNC headquarters was determined to be not credible, according to a statement from a DNC spokesperson.

U.S. Capitol Police said after being alerted to the threat, they did not find anything outside of the building. Out of an abundance of caution, they were checking the interior of the building.

“As DNC Chair Ken Martin has said, political violence in every form has no place in our country,” the DNC statement said.

Police respond to bomb threat at Democratic National Committee headquarters

U.S. Capitol Police are responding to a bomb threat at Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, according to a person familiar with the incident who requested anonymity because the situation is fluid.

An email sent to Senate offices said that “staff are asked to remain clear of the police activity” and said more information would be forthcoming.

There was no additional information immediately available.

— Mary Clare Jalonick