Trump praises FBI Director Kash Patel for speedy capture of Charlie Kirk assassin

EXCLUSIVE: President Trump on Saturday praised FBI Director Kash Patel for the remarkable speed in which the bureau identified and captured Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin.

Tyler Robinson, 22, was nabbed in his hometown of Washington, Utah, just 33 hours after he allegedly shot Kirk from a rooftop on the campus of Utah Valley University. The capture came after a frantic manhunt that began with only grainy images of the suspect’s figure fleeing the scene.

WHO IS TYLER ROBINSON? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED ASSASSIN

“I am very proud of the FBI,” Trump said, speaking exclusively with Fox News Digital. “Kash—and everyone else—they have done a great job.” 

Officials shared with Fox News Digital new details of the timeline of the investigation into the identification and arrest of Tyler Robinson and the unusual hands-on role Patel played in the process.

According to the FBI, Robinson was seen on the campus on Sept. 10, the day Kirk was shot, presumably conducting reconnaissance between 8:28 and 9:34 a.m. At 11:52 a.m., Robinson returned, climbed an exterior stairway to the roof of the Losee building, and took up a position at the highest level of the roof at 12:22 p.m., according to officials. He allegedly  shot Kirk just a minute later.

Robinson then lowered himself from the roof and dropped to the ground, authorities said. Two minutes after he allegedly shot Kirk, Robinson ran into a nearby wooded area, where the gun was later found.

Local FBI was on the scene immediately after the shooting, and Patel arrived at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Sept. 11.

TIMELINE OF CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION 

Patel was walked through the entire crime scene, and stood where Kirk was murdered. Patel walked each step the suspect took, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Patel also went to the rooftop where Robinson had allegedly perched and retraced his steps as he fled, including into the wooded area where the gun, a Mauser 30.06 rifle, was found.

Patel personally directed agents as they processed evidence and prepared to send it to Quantico, ATF labs, or local labs. Sources told Fox News Digital that Patel then directed the evidence to be loaded onto a plane with initial forensics and evidence collected and sent it back to the FBI labs for processing.

A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that, typically, when evidence is collected in an investigation, an agent ships it to the labs. But the source said Patel directed that the evidence and fingerprints be sent back to Quantico via plane—traveling back and forth from Utah collecting and delivering evidence.

“The DNA was being analyzed through the night because the director was there and he was directing all of this,” the source told Fox News Digital. “He directed everyone and said ‘You’re going to get the evidence out now.’”

The source added: “The evidence was getting back to the labs in rapid-speed. That’s why he was caught so quickly.” 

Fox News Digital also learned that Patel, against all recommendations, demanded the video footage of the suspect be released to the public.

A law enforcement source familiar told Fox News Digital that Robinson’s father, who ultimately turned him in to authorities, told the FBI that he recognized his son in that released video.