Evening Wire: Kirk Suspect Faces Judge & Another Drug Boat Bombed | 9.16.25

The man suspected of murdering Charlie Kirk faces a judge today in Utah.

A New York judge drops the terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione.

And Hollywood legend Robert Redford dies at 89.

I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe.

It's Tuesday, September 16th.

This is Evening Wire.

The suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk faced a judge today in Utah.

Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest.

22-year-old Tyler Robinson is being held under special watch in a separate housing unit as officials evaluate his mental health.

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged him with seven counts, including aggravated murder, making him eligible for the death penalty in the case of a conviction.

He also faces other charges of obstruction of justice and firing a weapon causing serious bodily injury.

Investigators say Robinson fired a single sniper shot that struck Kirk in the neck while he spoke at Utah Valley University last week.

A bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel was found nearby.

The FBI said its DNA matched with Robinson.

Authorities say the suspect also confessed in a private Discord message just before his arrest.

The suspect also reportedly confessed to the murder to his friends in an online chat.

Daily Wire reporter Amanda Press DiGiacomo has more.

According to the Washington Post, Tyler Robinson told his friends, it was me in an online chat on Discord shortly before he turned himself into law enforcement on Thursday.

Robinson, who authorities say had embraced left-wing political views and was in a romantic relationship with a trans-identifying nail roommate, allegedly told his friends on the platform Discord, quote, hey guys, I have bad news for you all.

It was me at Utah Valley University yesterday.

I'm sorry for all of this.

The Post reports that the message was sent Thursday night, a couple of hours before Robinson was taken into custody.

Following the promise from Kirk's widow Erica that his daily show will go on, it's done just that.

Yesterday, Vice President J.D.

Vance hosted the program from the White House and paid tribute to his friend.

Maybe the best way that I can contribute and the best way that I could honor my dear friend is to be the best husband that I can be, to be the kind of husband to my wife that he was to his.

You know, we talked all the time about the most important thing you could do is not vote for a particular candidate.

It was to become, if you were a young man, a husband and a father.

The guest hosting today was done by the Daily Wire's Wire's Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Ben Shapiro.

They, along with Kirk's executive producer Andrew Colvett, paid tribute to Charlie and discussed everything from where they were when he was killed to reactions from both sides of the aisle.

The thing that I remember stunning me is when they reported, when the headlines came up with his age.

The fact that Charlie was 31 years old and had accomplished all of these things.

I mean, just utterly irreplaceable.

I mean, just completely irreplaceable, which is why everybody, I mean, this is why his movement is going to have to to be the replacement.

A judge has tossed out the terrorism charge in the Luigi Mangioni case.

The second-degree murder charge remains.

Mangioni will still face charges that he killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a premeditated attack, but the ruling means the judge thinks there isn't enough evidence that he did so with terroristic intent.

Mangioni is facing 25 years in prison, but the dropped terrorism charge means he may eventually be able to walk free.

However, Attorney General Pam Bondi has stated that she plans to pursue the death penalty.

Mangioni is due in court next on December 5th.

President Trump has filed a massive $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times for defamation and libel.

Daily Wire's senior editor Joel Niedler has more.

The lawsuit targets the Times over three articles and a book written by its reporters published before the 2024 election.

The suit argues that the content, which criticized Trump's business and political careers, was maliciously intended to interfere with the presidential race.

The president announced the suit on Truth Social Monday, slamming the Times as, quote, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the history of our country.

He went on to say that the Times has been allowed to, quote, freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long.

The suit, filed in federal court in Florida, names the book Lucky Loser, How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, and the following three articles.

The star-making machine that created Donald Trump.

For Trump, a lifetime of scandals heads towards a moment of judgment.

And as election nears, Kelly warns Trump would rule like a dictator.

President Trump revealed Monday that the U.S.

military bombed another drug boat off the coast of Venezuela.

According to the president, the boat was helmed by narco-terrorists with a payload of drugs bound for the U.S.

The president wrote on Truth Social, quote, these extremely violent drug trafficking cartels pose a threat to U.S.

national security, foreign policy, and vital U.S.

interests.

Video of the strike showed showed a boat with several people on board explode in fire and smoke.

According to Trump, three male drug traffickers were killed.

No U.S.

service members were harmed.

Israel began its ground campaign in Gaza City today.

Israeli forces moved into the city after months of strikes from the air and artillery against entrenched Hamas targets.

The city is one of the last strongholds of Hamas.

The Israeli military estimates that 2,000 to 3,000 terrorist fighters remain there.

Victoria Coates of the Heritage Foundation discussed the operation with Morningwire.

This has been something nobody has wanted to do.

It's going to be very difficult.

Urban warfare, the security of the hostages, is, of course, an agonizing dilemma that the Prime Minister and his government have been grappling with for almost two years now.

But since they see no other course of action, and Hamas has been given every opportunity to talk, to come to a settlement, to come to some agreement, and they are the ones who are refusing.

So I think Israel made the momentous decision that they were going to have to go in.

Fulton County Attorney General Foni Willis has filed her last appeal alleging election interference by President Trump.

The saga came to a close today when the Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The 4-3 decision means she's officially never going to be able to prosecute the president for election claims.

Trump's attorney in the Georgia case, Steve Sado, cheered the decision, saying, quote, Willis's misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification.

This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political lawfare persecutions of the president.

FBI Director Cash Patel appeared before the Senate today amid some criticism for his actions during the Kirk shooting investigation.

Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the story.

The FBI chief testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on his tenure so far at the top of the United States' preeminent investigative agency.

Patel said that the FBI, under his and President Trump's leadership, has been the most transparent in history.

He also gave an update on the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassination, noting that the FBI has conducted over 100 interviews and received thousands of tips.

Patel received plenty of blowback from Democrats and at one point was interrupted by Senator Corey Booker as Patel tried to respond to those attacks.

That rant of false information does not bring this country together.

If you want to work on bringing this country, it's my time, not yours.

My God.

My God.

If you want to talk about

it is.

I follow you on your social media posts that tear

you apart to address

the Federal Reserve meets today and tomorrow, and they're expected to announce their first interest rate cuts since December.

The highly anticipated meeting begins as an appeals court has rejected President Trump's request to remove the Fed board governor Lisa Cook, who's been accused of engaging in mortgage fraud.

Meanwhile, in other Fed news, on Monday, the Senate confirmed Trump's nominee Stephen Myron to fill in the seat left empty by former Fed Governor Adriana Koogler, who announced her resignation last month.

The U.S., South Korea, and Japan are flexing their military muscles, Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell reports.

The three launched a cooperative naval drill this week called Freedom Edge.

The exercise, which runs through Friday, features U.S.

Marines and Air Force jets, ballistic missile defense, medical evacuations, and maritime operations.

Many say it's the most advanced show of trilateral defense cooperation yet.

Officials say it's meant to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.

But Pyongyang is lashing out.

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un, called the drills a reckless show of strength and warned the Allies would suffer, quote, bad results.

The death toll from anti-government protests in Nepal has risen to 72.

Thousands of self-identified Jinzers took to the streets in the capital of Kathmandu last week to protest deep-seated corruption and a nationwide ban on social media.

Government buildings, offices, and houses were set ablaze.

As we've covered here, the Prime Minister resigned amid the chaos last Tuesday.

The interim Prime Minister, who is a former Supreme Court Chief Justice, is arranging a temporary administration to prepare for formal elections in six months.

President Trump will arrive in the UK this evening for a formal state visit.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the President expressed optimism about the trip.

It's going to be a beautiful event.

Everyone's looking forward to it.

And we'll just relax and have a good time.

The visit comes after the British ambassador to the U.S.

was dismissed last week when a communications dump revealed that he was close friends with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Amid the pomp and circumstance, Trump and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are expected to discuss trade and security.

Congress is awarding the gold medal for one of America's greatest Cold War victories, not on the battlefield, but on the ice.

Craning Company co-host David Cohn has the details.

Lawmakers in Washington have passed the the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act, honoring the 1980 U.S.

Olympic men's hockey team who shook the world.

The squad of college kids led by coach Herb Brooks, stunned with a 4-3 win over the mighty Soviets in Lake Placid, a triumphant victory that Sports Illustrated later called the greatest sports moment of the 20th century.

The bill sends three congressional gold medals to the Lake Placid Olympic Center, the U.S.

Hockey Hall of Fame in Minnesota, and the Olympic Museum in Colorado Springs.

The measure now heads to President Trump, who's expected to sign it.

And Oscar winner, director, and activist Robert Redford died today at 89, according to an announcement he passed peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Utah.

His legendary career spanned decades, but his most iconic films include the 1969 Old West drama Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the 1976 film All the President's Men about the Watergate scandal.

Perhaps his biggest contribution to film was his founding of the Sundance Institute in the 1980s, which helped spur the indie film scene by giving a platform to know-name filmmakers.

He is survived by his wife Sybil Sagers, daughters Shauna and Amy Redford, and seven grandchildren.

All right, those are your drive-home updates today.

To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.

And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including the FBI broadening its investigation into Kirk's assassination, Zoran Mamdani's plan to replace the police, and the White House threatening Brazil after its Supreme Court sentences the Trump of the Tropics to 27 years in prison.

Thanks for tuning in.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.