FBI releases photos of 'person of interest' in hunt for Charlie Kirk's killer

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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Julia McFarlane and in the early hours of Friday the 12th of September, these are our main stories.

FBI agents investigating the killing of the influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk have released photos of a person of interest.

Brazil's former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro has been found guilty of attempting a coup after losing the last election.

South Sudan's vice president, Riek Machar, has been suspended hours after he was charged with treason treason and crimes against humanity in a move that raises fears of a return to civil war.

Also in this podcast.

I actually went to the former Prime Minister's residence and it is completely destroyed.

There's nothing that's left there.

You see burnt out pictures, windows that are blown out.

The aftermath of this week's protests that toppled the government in Nepal.

The date 9-11 is forever engraved into the American psyche, and this year, at commemorations across the country, those who attended were in shock over the killing on Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the prominent conservative campaigner, commentator, and influencer.

He was 31 years old.

At the 9-11 commemoration at the Pentagon, President Trump opened his speech with these words.

Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous

assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt.

Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.

Our prayers are

with his wonderful wife, Eric, and his beautiful children.

Fantastic people they are.

We miss him greatly, yet 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.

President Trump went on to say he would be posthumously awarding Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.

The FBI has released two photographs on X of a person of interest in the shooting.

Earlier, the FBI's special agent in charge, Robert Bowles, gave an update on the investigation.

This morning, I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday's shooting.

It is a high-powered bolt-action rifle.

That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled.

The FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon.

Investigators have also collected footwear impression, a palm print, and forearm imprints for analysis.

As of this morning, we have received more than 130 tips.

I got more from the BBC's Arunade Mukherjee in Washington.

What really stood out was that they had initially held off on releasing photographs of the person of interest, expressing a degree of confidence in the progress that they felt they had made.

They said they would only approach the media if they thought they needed help, but then that changed a few hours later when they posted these two pictures of the person of interest seeking any information about him.

They've now also announced a reward of $100,000 for any information, which really illustrates the urgency the investigators are now feeling feeling as we cross the 24-hour mark since the shooting took place.

Well, just to recap, some of the critical parts that came out of the update was the fact that they believe they've recovered the weapon that they believe was used in the shooting.

They've got some footwear impressions, forearm prints, and palm prints, and also some understanding of the movements that this person would have undertaken.

And also, most importantly, the first time that we understood something about the individual, that they appeared to be of college age, is what they said.

I think hopefully there could be some more updates and details in the next briefing.

Andarunadeh, the president has blamed what he called the radical left and promised a crackdown in that

address that he gave earlier.

What do you think is going to happen now?

Well, he has expressed in very strong words how he feels about Charlie Kirk and his killing.

He announced that he will be awarding him posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ordering flags to be flown at half-mast.

There is a lot of anger and fury over his killing.

While Donald Trump was quick to blame the radical left, as you said, there have been voices which have used stronger words.

There have been many who've also demanded retribution.

So, this is likely to dominate the discourse and continue to divide, you know, in a sense, going forward.

But I think the first and foremost focus, as President Trump himself said, would be on catching the person who did this when they figure out what exactly was the motive.

I think it'll all start from there.

Arunade Makerji.

Charlie Kirk was one of the most important and influential conservative activists and media figures in America, with millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram, and a monthly listenership of more than half a million for his podcasts.

He first rose to prominence when he was 18, skipping college and co-founding Turning Point USA, a political action committee promoting conservative politics, holding regular events at high schools, colleges, and universities.

Many young people in America have attributed his influence to the recent growth of right-wing conservatism among the youth.

But while he was popular and charismatic for some, his opinions were also controversial, provocative, and very divisive for others.

Here's a flavor of some of his views over the years.

When blacks in America did not have the same rights they had today, they were less murderous, there was less break-ins.

Why is that?

So I'm sorry, are you trying to say that blacks thrive under subjugation?

No, I'm not.

I'm saying they, I'm asking you the question.

The data shows they were actually better in the 1940s.

It was bad.

It was evil.

But what happened?

Something changed.

We should have an honest and clear reductionist view of gun violence, but we should not have a utopian one.

You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death.

That is nonsense.

It's drivel.

But I think it's worth it.

I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.

My wish for the left is that you will become liberal again and no longer leftist.

Free speech is a liberal value.

It is not a left-wing value.

You should be allowed to say outrageous things.

You should be allowed to say contrarian things.

Free speech is a birthright that you gave us, and you guys decided not to codify it, and now it's poof.

It's basically gone.

Marianna Spring is our social media correspondent and one of the hosts of the BBC podcast Americast.

Charlie Kirk, I don't think we can underestimate what a big influence he has, particularly in the online and the social media world.

He's someone who's cultivated and built that profile ever since he founded Turning Point USA back when he was 18.

When he died, he was 31 years old when he was killed.

And in that time,

his influence and reach has increased exponentially, not least because of the relationship that he has with Donald Trump and the way in which he supported his campaigns.

And when we spoke about this on AmeriCast before, we were talking about how crucial someone like Charlie Kirk was to Donald Trump's re-election as president because he gets this online world.

He knows how to use podcasts or alternative media outlets in order to get a message out there.

Loads of clips of him go mega, mega viral, mainly because they often are quite controversial.

They're showing debate, they're showing discussion, and lots of people either totally agree or very, very, very strongly disagree with him.

But that's how this stuff gets promoted by the algorithms, the recommendation systems, because it triggers that strong reaction.

And he absolutely created, I guess, the blueprint, you might say, for political activists who are now social media influencers and are known all over the world, not just in the United States.

Mariana Spring.

Next to Brazil, where the Supreme Court has convicted the former president Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election, all but one of the judges on the five-member panel found him guilty.

The ruling makes Mr.

Bolsonaro the first former president in the country's history to be convicted of attacking democracy.

Our South America correspondent Ioni Wells is outside the court in Brasilia.

This was a very dramatic moment here in the Supreme Court in Brasilia, the moment that a third judge found Jaya Bolsonaro guilty on all charges, which all relate to him masterminding a coup to cling to power after losing the last election.

Some of the allegations that we heard in courts were pretty wild.

They included things like the fact that he called a meeting with military commanders to propose a coup to them and even knew about a plot to assassinate his election rival, now President of Brazil, Lula de Silva, a plot that was printed out by an aide of his at the presidential palace.

Now, all these charges that he's been found guilty of potentially carry a sentence of more than 40 years, although we're just waiting at the moment to hear what that sentence may be.

But this is significant for Jayabol Sonaro because it certainly puts an end to any further political ambitions for him going forward.

Ioni, you say he could face a sentence of more than 40 years.

He's already quite old, so what are the prospects for him now?

Well that is an interesting question because while a sentence could be of more than 40 years, because of his age and his ill health he may well try to appeal to have that turned into a house arrest.

He is currently already on house arrest while this trial has been ongoing.

He's been facing poor health since he was stabbed on the election campaign in 2018.

Interestingly also, Congress here in Brazil, where his party have a majority, is trying to push through a new law that would grant him amnesty.

So while this verdict is very clear, his punishment is still somewhat unknown.

And Dione, he's obviously been a longtime ally of President Trump, who has spoken out

about this trial.

He's been very critical.

What's the latest we've heard from him?

Yeah, that's right.

Donald Trump had already used this trial as an excuse to impose 50% tariffs on Brazil and sanction one of the Supreme Court judges who was leading this case.

Donald Trump has reacted to this verdict saying he was surprised and very unhappy that Jaya Bolsonaro has been convicted.

He's in the past referred to this trial as a witch hunt.

Interestingly as well, we've also heard from Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has been lobbying on his father's behalf in the US recently, he says that he expects the US to impose further sanctions against Brazilian officials after his father's conviction.

So we haven't yet heard any formal confirmation of that from the US, but certainly interesting to watch in the next couple of days whether the US decides to ramp up its punishments on Brazil for targeting one of Donald Trump's allies.

Ioni Wells.

And as we record this podcast, we've just learned that Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.

South Sudan's vice president, Riyek Machar, has been suspended hours after he was charged with treason, murder, and crimes against humanity in a move that raises fears of a return to civil war.

He's accused of involvement in an attack by a militia on federal forces earlier this year.

The move further escalates the power feud with his long-term rival, the President Salvakir.

Sebastian Usher reports.

Mr.

Machar has been under house arrest since March after a militia from the ethnic community to which he belongs attacked a military base in the northeast of the country, killing more than 250 soldiers.

The government has said that Mr.

Matya was responsible and must be held accountable.

But many inside and outside the country fear that his detention will lead to a further unravelling of a fragile power-sharing agreement that ended the civil war in the world's newest country.

Sebastian Usher.

Still to come, Ireland threatens to withdraw from the next Eurovision song contest if Israel continues to participate.

Eurovision is meant to be apolitical, and to a certain extent they've been largely successful at that, given that you've got Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Those two were at war at one point, and yet for one night of the year, they shared that stage.

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As we record this podcast, the streets of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are reported to be quiet after days of violent protests.

At least 30 people have been killed since the unrest began, sparked initially by anger over displays of wealth and opulence by relatives of politicians, which then exploded after access to social media sites was blocked and a deadly crackdown ensued.

Everything came to a head when the Prime Minister dramatically resigned and now military leaders have been holding talks with protesters to pick an interim leader for the country.

One of the youth leaders, Ojashwi Raj Thapa, explained what their aims were.

Right now the first thing is the interim government.

The second theme is dissolving the current parliament.

And the third thing is maintaining law and order in the country.

These are the things, three things that we are looking forward for now.

Other than that, the other agendas, the political isn't as we have to discuss it in the whole team before we present it to the society, before we present it to the world.

Our correspondent, Samira Hussain, is in Kathmandu.

Right in front of me, I'm actually not too far from the parliament building, and there is a very heavy military presence.

And it's something that I have seen on the streets here in the capital of Kathmandu all throughout the day.

And it's a completely different scene from the chaos that we saw earlier in the week and all of that violence and this eruption of flames, especially when it came to the Parliament building and even the Supreme Court.

But if you move further down, I actually went to the former Prime Minister's residence and it is three buildings, sort of a corner kind of lot, and it is completely destroyed.

There's nothing that's left there.

You see burnt out pictures, windows that are blown out, old burnt motorcycles in the alleyway.

I mean, it's really just an incredible scene.

But then if you look just in front of it,

the buildings there are perfectly intact.

And I spoke with one woman who actually lives across the street from where the Prime Minister's residence is.

And she described watching it go up in flames and just these protesters that came running.

And there was this real visceral anger.

And you saw that they were trying to take it out on the building itself.

And there was, of course, concern for her own safety and the people in her home, but also for her own home itself.

But then she quickly saw just how the protesters were actually very protective of any other homes around the area.

So, a real sense of you know, their anger was directed towards the prime minister and not anyone else in that neighborhood.

And, Samira, the military has been engaging with the protesters on what should happen next.

I mean, what's going on with the talks?

Well, so remember, as a result of the protests that turned violent, we saw that the Nepal's prime minister resigned, and as did his entire cabinet.

So now we're sort of in a situation where there's not really any functioning government in the country.

And so you have the military that is sort of taking control in terms of maintaining law and order.

And now the military is trying to facilitate some kind of interim government and they're doing so by negotiating with the leaders of this student movement what they have been calling the Gen Z movement what makes this challenging is that this all happened really very quickly and this Gen Z movement doesn't really have any clear leadership it's quite a few different student organizations that are sort of coming together in kind of a collective but they're not speaking with one single voice, so it's proving to be challenging in terms of trying to meet their demands when the demands may not necessarily be cohesive.

Samira Hussein

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss Israel's strikes on Hamas targets in the Qatari capital, Doha.

The meeting was delayed from Wednesday, so the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Altani, could take part.

The Council adopted a statement which condemned the airstrike, but didn't name Israel as the perpetrator.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr.

Al-Thani expressed his anger at Israel's actions.

Qatar is making tireless efforts to save lives, and this attack puts the international community before a test.

Israel, led by extremists, bloodthirsty extremists, have gone beyond any borders, any limitations when it comes to behavior, not only among states, but among individuals.

We're unable to predict what Israel can do.

How can we host Israeli representatives when they have committed this attack?

Have you heard of any state that is attacking a mediator this way?

Well, in his statement, Israel's UN envoy to the Security Council, Danny Danon, issued this warning.

This strike sends a message that should echo across this chamber.

There is no sanctuary for terrorists, not in Gaza, not in Tehran, not in Doha.

There is no immunity for terrorists.

And yet, here in this Council, some members chose to give Hamas legitimacy, even protection.

Israel will not.

We will act against the leaders of Terror wherever they are hiding.

In Qatar, funeral ceremonies have been held for those killed, though Hamas says many of its leaders survived.

Next year marks the 70th anniversary of Eurovision, an annual song contest televised across the continent and beyond.

Its original purpose was to boost collaboration between European broadcasters, but one of them, RTE, the Irish national broadcaster, has announced that Ireland won't take part in the competition next year, unless Israel is no longer part of it.

Israel has been a contender since 1973, but the Gaza war has made its presence controversial for some.

Dr.

Paul Jordan is an expert on how politics influences the Eurovision song contest.

Sean Lay asked him if Ireland's actions was unprecedented.

It is, because in the past we have had countries withdraw, but there have been very specific cases.

So, for example, Georgia, when the contest was taking place in russia azerbaijan when they were hosting armenia withdrew this is the first time we've really had what looks like a bit of group action going on with ireland specifically saying they won't take part of israel there iceland have also made some noises around that and slovenia too there are rumors in other countries as well spain too so it is the first time we've really seen a bit of kind of block um solidarity i guess against a certain country participating and it's very interesting and it's very complicated and I think it's going to really cause a lot of problems for the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union.

RTE seems to have lifted the veil on what is usually very private dealings within the European Broadcasting Union because they said at the General Assembly of the EBU back in July, according to RTE, a number of countries raised concerns about the participation of Israel.

And then it goes on to say that RTE wishes to thank the EBU for the extension of the option to withdraw from participation without penalty.

So it's not going to cost it anything, even though presumably the EBU could end up with some expenses if the programme is not being broadcast as widely as would normally be the case.

Indeed, and you know, countries pay a participation fee, so the less countries you have in, the more expensive it is for everyone else.

It's a great shame that this has actually happened, but unfortunately, you know, Eurovision reflects the issues of the day.

It's meant to be apolitical, and to a certain extent, they've been largely successful at that, given that you've got Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Those two were at war at one point, and yet for one night of the year, they shared that stage.

That's a really powerful symbol.

But this is also slightly the EBU's own doing.

They cooked out Russia and Belarus.

Now, technically, that was because their broadcasters broke the rules.

They broadcast government propaganda, which was against the rules.

Technically, the Israeli broadcaster has not broken the rules, but there are questions around what is happening within Israel and Gaza, too, which does have an impact on other participating countries and their views of Israel and their participation, I guess.

RTU also says in its statement that in part its decision is a reflection of its concern about what it calls targeted killing of journalists in Gaza because of course RTE as well as being an entertainment broadcaster is also a news broadcaster.

Can you conceive Israel being forced to withdraw?

I think the only way Israel would withdraw is if the broadcaster was expelled for breaking the rules and so far they haven't.

I think Israel are really strong in terms of they want want visibility and they're quite staunch about that.

That's why they take part in events like the World Cup, the Olympic Games.

But ultimately it's now a judgment call for the EBU.

Do they alienate long-standing participants at the expense

for one country or do they play to the crowd?

It's a really tricky one because you can't then have a mentality where certain countries say no to one country participating.

It's against the spirit of the event.

But that said, this is quite an unprecedented situation and unfortunately it's now a tragic humanitarian one.

Dr.

Paul Jordan speaking to Sean Lay.

Let's return now to our main story: the death of Charlie Kirk in the United States.

It seems that America is united in only one thing: in lamenting how polarized it has become.

It's certainly an unhappy state of affairs, as David Remick, the editor of the magazine The New Yorker, told Evan Davis.

I do remember when there was a terrible slaughter in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, that Barack Obama's way of reacting to this was to try to bring the nation together with the most conciliatory, even spiritual language possible when he led a church service in song in the most moving way possible.

That didn't end gun violence, hatred, or racism, but it was a gesture toward national healing and conciliation, even at the worst time.

And I'm not sure I see that now when Elon Musk gets on social media and calls the Democratic Party the party of murder.

And I wish that the president's own statement last night were more in the direction of what Obama displayed in South Carolina.

I mean, in fairness, people on both sides of the political divide in the U.S.

have, rather than sort of laid down any ill will today, they have kind of continued the argument.

There is a sense of each side blaming the other.

Trump blamed the left for its demonization of those on the right.

The left have definitely blamed Trump for the kind of incitement of violence and the raising of the stakes in American politics.

It's like, stop it.

You've got to basically look to your own behavior and not be lecturing others, don't you, at a time like this?

Partisanship and political argument is legitimate.

That's part of what democracy is.

But there is a tone of rhetoric that's hateful, that is, at the very minimum, unproductive, and at the maximum, a factor that leads to the worst possible result.

I think it's legitimate when people raise the easy availability of guns, and I think it's too easy sometimes for people to say, well, now is not the time.

I don't know when the time is, because this has gone on now for decades and decades and decades in America.

Do you worry that violence begets violence?

That's a basic lesson of humanity that we've been reading about since ancient times, all through the poems of W.H.

Auden.

And hatred begets hatred.

But David, what proportion of the U.S.

population is spewing that bile?

Well, we also have a technology that accelerates this as never before.

And hate speech that might have been limited to a private conversation at a bar between two people who've had too much to drink and are saying hateful things now is found in its plentitude online, and it helps inflame just the general atmosphere.

I think that has to be true not only where I live, but where you are.

What social media has done, what our coarsened politics have done, what the all too easy expression of hatred and violence has done to our society is very evident.

The Internet did not invent political violence, but I I do think it it inflames the situation in a deeply unfortunate way.

David Remick.

And finally, something very different now.

The Addams Family T V series of the 1960s about an eccentric and macabre family was so popular it spurred lots of remakes.

The latest is the Netflix TV show Wednesday, produced by Tim Burton and named after the family's daughter.

And another character from the 60s, a human hand called Thing, has now become a huge star.

It's played by Victor Dorobantu, a magician from Romania, where they filmed the series.

Rebecca Kesby asked him how he was able to bring his character to life, given the viewer only ever sees his hand.

Most of the process requires wearing this chroma suit, which in my case is blue, so they can remove my body easier in scenes.

Another part of this process is the prosthetic makeup, which is amazing in our show.

We have different stumps and wrists that we attach to my hand so that it helps with the look and with the move of thing.

And the third biggest part of the process is removing

myself in CGI.

It's a painful process, but it's very enjoyable.

How do you express emotion and and get a character out of just your right hand?

Obviously, a difficult part is trying to

show emotion and character without using a voice, subtitles, eyes, brows, mouth.

We spent months and months trying to develop a language for Thing.

I tried learning a lot of sign language, which apparently doesn't work for only one hand that stands on its own fingers.

I use some bits of that, but also most of the part I'm improvising and trying to put my character into thing.

I'm trying to imagine the hand as being a whole creature imagining the legs, the hands and also the eye level which would be the stitches on the wrist.

So I'm trying to use that.

I'm trying to use tension in the fingers and tendon movements.

And is there anything you can tell us about this latest series that's just dropped?

Thing is discovering more about his past.

He's getting more action.

He gets a lot of fight scenes and a lot of, let's say, violence.

He's more close to the family, to the Adams family, and to his friends at Nevermore.

So Thing is more present.

You can see Thing as a hero now, let's say.

Victor Dorobantu.

And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later.

If you want to comment on this podcast or any of the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service use the hashtag globalnewspod.

This edition was mixed by Chris Ablackwa, and the producers were Alison Davis and Stephen Jensen.

The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Julia McFarlane.

Until next time, goodbye.