FBI agents reportedly delayed showing a photo of the Charlie Kirk assassination suspect to Director Kash Patel for 12 hours.
In a heated conference call early Thursday, Patel and his FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called out subordinates for waiting nearly 12 hours to show them the photos — and said they would have released them immediately had they been aware they were available, according to people who spoke to the New York Times.
An official attending the meeting told the Times that Patel criticized the agency’s “Mickey Mouse operations,” saying it was one of the few times in the call that he wasn’t cursing.
The assassination of Kirk is one of the prominent cases in the U.S. in which President Trump is pushing for the death penalty.
During an interview Friday on Fox News, Trump revealed that a suspect in the killing of Kirk was in police custody and called for the execution again.
Later, that person was identified as Tyler Robinson. He was arrested after a 33-hour manhunt stopped when his father convinced him to turn himself in. Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University by the 22-year-old, who is now being charged with aggravated murder.
His case brings up a big legal question: will Robinson get life in prison if he is found guilty, or could the prosecution ask for the death penalty?
Not being able to post bail, he is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, firing a gun in a way that seriously harms someone, and obstructing justice, the UK’s Mirror reported.
Prosecutors said that more charges, such as weapons violations and obstruction, could be added as the case goes on.
Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said on Sunday that the accused gunman is not cooperating with authorities, but added that “all the people around him were cooperating, and I think that’s very important.”
Robinson is due in court on Tuesday, but there are already many calls for the death sentence to be used.
But this takes a long time, and people in this country who are on death row usually have to wait more than ten years before they can be put to death. On top of that, there are times when courts reverse persons’ death sentences.