<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>DNA on a towel wrapped around a rifle found near where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated matched that of the 22-year-old accused in the killing, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators also have used DNA evidence to link the suspect, Tyler Robinson, with a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired, Patel told Fox News Channel on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities in Utah are preparing to file capital murder charges against Robinson as early as Tuesday in the killing of Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics who became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation's largest political organisations.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/food-and-water-shortages-predicted-for-australia-in-national-climate-risk-assessment-report/c0c4dfdf-36f8-406e-98ea-2935e5173980"><strong><span>Avocados, fish, milk and beef under threat in catastrophic climate warning</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kirk, who brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics, was shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University during one of his many campus stops. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarised United States.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials have said Robinson carried a hatred for Kirk and ascribed to a “leftist ideology” that had grown in recent years. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/dna-evidence-found-near-scene-of-charlie-kirks-shooting-matches-suspect-fbi-director-says/3bb80d7c-19d9-4ee5-8d81-2cd83204cec7" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/first-guardian-superannuation-collapse-queensland-man-phil-loses-hundreds-of-thousands-forced-to-reverse-retirement/170a3c03-4e70-4584-8f37-04df79d27f3c"><strong><span>Mining worker Phil was forced to reverse his retirement after losing $240,000</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson’s family and friends said he spent large amounts of time scrolling the "dark corners of the internet,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Patel told Fox News that Robinson had written in a note before the shooting that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators were able to recover the note's contents after it had been destroyed, the FBI director said, paraphrasing from the note without revealing more details.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities said Robinson has not been cooperating with law enforcement. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-crime-ram-raid-fire-redbank-plains-police-news/7b88e41f-39e8-46e2-8c5d-b0a71119deb5"><strong><span>Gang on the run after tobacconist hit by early morning ram-raid</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They say that he may have been “radicalised” online and that ammunition found in the gun used to kill Kirk included anti-fascist and meme-culture language engravings. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson was arrested late Thursday near where he grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. It's unclear whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf, and his family has declined to comment to The Associated Press.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tributes to Kirk continue across the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kelly-wilkinson-inquest-family-seeks-answers-after-mother-stabbed-burnt-gold-coast-queensland-news/b40e7c20-f1df-42ad-9caf-d90a73a2cfcc"><strong><span>Family seeks answers after Gold Coast mum stabbed, burnt to death</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A line of mourners wrapped around the Kennedy Centre in Washington for a vigil on Sunday, and there were moments of silence at several professional sporting events.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vice President JD Vance, who counted Kirk as a close friend, served as a substitute host on Monday for Kirk's talk show on Rumble, a streaming platform.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Please join me as I pay tribute to my friend,” Vance wrote on social media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/Z8tJCf"><strong><span>Sign up here</span></strong></a><strong><span> to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.</span></strong></div></div>