Information on the search for the gunman, updates on Utah Valley University and polarized online discourse flooded the internet as new details became available in the 24 hours after the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Investigators recovered the rifle used in the shooting, which was stashed in a wooded area near the UVU campus. The rifle and ammunition are currently being studied by forensic scientists for additional information about the shooter.
Images of the alleged gunman have been released by the FBI to the public. He is seen wearing a black hat, sunglasses, a black long-sleeve shirt with a graphic on the front, and jeans.
The suspect is still at large, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 to anyone with information regarding the suspect, according to the FBI website.
Two people of interest were interviewed, released and cleared as suspects Wednesday.
“They faced scrutiny, they faced threats ... We ask that you do not impose (on) those people and that investigative process. They don't deserve that harassment," said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety,
UVU said there is no ongoing threat to campus but has suspended all university events and classes until Monday, Sept. 15.
Many have weighed in on the death of Charlie Kirk, which took place on the UVU campus on Sept. 10.
President Donald Trump confirmed the death of Kirk in a post that read:
“The great, and even legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead.”
Trump also announced plans to award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Even public figures and influencers who don’t regularly weigh in on political news have voiced their opinions
“If you watch me daily, you know we don’t get political in this room,” influencer Jeffery Star said during a live stream before adding, “This is a grown man who fought for the truth.”
Samuel Jacobs, a BYU student, said he was "surprised to see that from both sides the response has been largely positive, a lot of people condemning violence and a lot of people coming together.”
A tweet from Project Liberal said, “We agree with Charlie Kirk on basically nothing. Except that he deserves the right, as every human does, to speak freely without the threat of violence.”
However, there has been a “loud minority” who chose to celebrate the assassination of Kirk.
One post read, “May that man never find rest and always suffer in eternity, Charlie Kirk. That’s Karma.”
Other social media users posted screenshots of tweets posted by Charlie Kirk himself, including one that said, “Guns save lives.”
Margie Brown, a BYU student, received a direct message in response to a story she shared on Instagram that read, “Man needed to go, and that’s that.”
Brown, who was in attendance at Kirk’s event, also mentioned there was a man who cheered when Kirk was shot.
The murder of Kirk and the discourse that has followed have sparked conversation about being able to disagree with others without resorting to violence.
Robert Bohls, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office, said during a press conference the morning of Sept. 11 that the foundation of America is democracy and the right to have individual opinions and be able to voice them without the threat of violence.
“Any attack on the First Amendment is an attack on the very foundation of our democracy," Bohls said.
Jacobs said people must learn how to disagree without violence, “even when we disagree passionately, to still recognize the humanity and the value in having those differing ideas.”
Jacobs also said this change needs to happen at “an individual level” and added that “it’s important to be peacemakers,” referring to a talk given by the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jacobs went on to say Americans need to take Gov. Spencer Cox’s “Disagree Better” initiative more seriously.
According to Cox’s initiative website, the Disagree Better initiative is meant to look at the “problems of polarization” and help people find ways to disagree without being divided.
Cox said he knows it will be difficult and will open up hard conversations, but through “healthy conflict,” people can disagree better.