Charlie Kirk suspect vas

US authorities have announced the capture of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin.

Investigators had appeared to be making slow progress in the hunt for whoever gunned down Donald Trump's close ally, until they released security camera images of a young man.

"We got him," Utah Governor Spencer Cox told a press conference early Friday, identifying the suspect as Tyler Robinson, 22, who had reportedly been confronted by his father over the pictures and then turned in.

The 31-year-old Kirk was hit by a single bullet while addressing a large crowd at Utah Valley University in the town of Orem on Wednesday.

Kirk was an electrifying presence on the US right, with a huge following that helped Trump build the youth vote in his election victory last November.

Kirk's murder has consumed America for 48 hours, capturing almost all cable news coverage, while Trump has ordered flags to fly at half-mast.

Kirk's hardline views on race, gender, gun ownership and other hot-button issues made him an intensely divisive figure, although even opponents praised his willingness to debate.

Authorities took 33 hours to make the arrest.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrest was finally made at 10:00 pm Thursday after Robinson had allegedly confessed to his father, a former policeman.

"On the evening of September 11th, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend, who contacted the Washington County sheriff's office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident," he said.

Robinson was being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, and was expected to be formally charged in the coming days.

Utah has the death penalty for such crimes -- a punishment Trump has said he would like to see imposed.

Kirk, whom supporters have hailed as a martyr, co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 to drive conservative viewpoints among young people, with his natural showmanship making him a go-to spokesman on television networks.

The father-of-two used his audiences on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to build support for anti-immigration policies, outspoken Christianity and gun ownership, and to spread carefully edited clips of his interactions during debates at his many college events.