Good morning. We’re covering the latest in the search for Charlie Kirk’s assassin. More news to start your Friday is below.
A manhunt
Yesterday was Sept. 11. On one side of the country, F.B.I. agents and police officers pursued the assailant who killed Charlie Kirk. On the other, the families of those who died more than two decades ago in a harrowing act of political violence held their annual rituals of mourning. And in between, Americans grappled with the feeling that the bloodshed had become inescapable. As of this morning, the search for Kirk’s killer still has not turned up a suspect. Here is the latest:
Americans across the political spectrum told The Times that they were saddened, but not surprised, by the shooting of a political figure. “There was someone on TV, and he kept saying that this was not who we are — that we are not one of those countries that shoots people over politics,” said Charles Phoenix, 62, a left-leaning artist in the Los Angeles area. “But it is who we are now. We do shoot political leaders. We are that country.” Erwin McKone, 55, a salesman near Flint, Mich., who voted for President Trump, said the killing seemed to arise from an animus that was increasingly disconnected from facts, accountability and reason. “It seems like we’re totally living in insanity,” he said, “every moment of every day.” Emily Rose, a liberal 19-year-old at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, said students largely discussed politics only with like-minded people. “Sometimes when the conversation veers toward politics in a mixed space, things feel tense,” she said.
The manhunt has been fraught for the F.B.I. and its relatively inexperienced director, my colleagues report in a new story. They describe a tense online meeting with Patel and 200 agents around the country: Mr. Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, made it clear they were under intense pressure to catch Kirk’s killer. They expressed themselves with such fierce urgency that, in the view of some participants, it hinted at another motive: to prove they were up to the task. The director wasted no time before calling out subordinates that he said failed to give him timely information and was incensed that agents in Salt Lake City waited nearly 12 hours to show him a photo of the suspected killer, according to three people familiar on the exchange. Mr. Patel said he would not tolerate any more “Mickey Mouse operations,” an official on the call recounted. It was one of his few utterances without profanity, the person added. On Capitol Hill, Kirk’s killing has rattled lawmakers, Times reporters in Washington write. And though the shooter’s ideology is not yet known, Republican representatives were quick to point the finger across the aisle. “The left and their policies are leading America into a civil war,” Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin wrote on social media. “Some on the American left are undoubtedly well-meaning people, but their ideology is pure evil,” Bob Onder of Missouri said in a speech on the House floor. Trump voiced a similar view, Luke Broadwater and Alan Feuer write. Still, as the country’s leaders feuded, some Democrats and Republicans sought common ground, Jesse McKinley and Madison Malone Kircher report. Groups representing young Republicans and Democrats came together in at least two states to issue statements after the killing that condemned political violence and urged people to avoid hurtful dialogue about the assassination. “We may disagree on policy, but we are united in our belief in the value of life, civil discourse and mutual respect,” wrote Kenneth Naylor, the chairman of the young Republicans group in Rhode Island. “Let us honor Charlie’s memory by working together to create a safer and more compassionate political culture.” For more
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