A man has been arrested after allegedly sneaking into the Charlie Kirk crime scene in a lab coat to photograph the scene.
Russell Kim Kennington, 38, is accused of trespassing on the grounds at Utah Valley University and crossing two lines of crime scene tape shortly after the assassination on Wednesday.
Kennington was approached by detectives after he started snapping pictures and videos of the scene and evidence, according to an affidavit obtained by KUTV.
But when officers ordered him to identify himself, he allegedly fled towards a nearby academic building.
Kennington was apprehended following a short pursuit and allegedly admitted that he had been 'reminiscing and filming the scene'.
He claimed to have entered the crime scene by 'following the shadows' and said he was trying to avoid detection so he would not 'disturb' investigators.
Police found a selfie of Kennington at the scene on his phone, according to the affidavit.
He was arrested on charges of suspicion of capital obstruction of justice and criminal trespass, and booked into the Utah County Jail.
Kennnington was arrested near the building where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot after allegedly trespassing on the crime scene on Thursday.
Kennnington was arrested on charges of suspicion of capital obstruction of justice and criminal trespass, and booked into the Utah County Jail.
Kennnington was apprehended following a short pursuit and allegedly admitted that he had been 'reminiscing and filming the scene'.
It is unclear if Kennington has posted bail, but his inmate record does not appear in the jail's online database.
Kennington, although he allegedly ignored the police cordon reading 'CRIME SCENE/POLICE/DO NOT CROSS', was not involved in Kirk's shooting.
A post on a Facebook page believed to belong to Kennington suggests that he may have been at Utah Valley University on the day of the shooting.
'UVU has the tightest security. We are safe thank you to all those that helped us out,' the post - which was reviewed by the Daily Mail - read.
His followers responded by offering their well wishes to Kennington and the entire campus community.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed at his show on the college campus in what authorities called a political assassination.
Suspected gunman Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offense.
Officials believe he acted alone, but the investigation is ongoing.
Robinson is expected to be formally charged early next week ahead of an initial court appearance.
Police say he crossed two sets of yellow tape cordoning off the area where Kirk was shot.
Kennnington was apprehended following a short pursuit and allegedly admitted that he had been 'reminiscing and filming the scene'.
An armored vehicle next to the building where Charlie Kirk was shot on Thursday, the day after the shooting.
Officials say he expressed opposition to the conservative activist's views and indicated that he was responsible for the shooting.
Robinson had allegedly become 'more political' in the run-up to the shooting and mentioned during a dinner with family that Kirk would be visiting Utah.
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive, but they did describe evidence they said shed potential light on the slaying.
That includes engravings on bullet casings recovered from the high-powered rifle believed used in the attack, including one that said, 'Hey, fascist! Catch!'
Utah Governor Spencer Cox detailed the engravings, as well as chat app messages attributed to the suspect about the killing that a roommate shared with law enforcement.
The roommate showed the authorities messages from the chatting app Discord that involved a contact named Tyler which discussed a rifle wrapped in a towel, engraved bullets and a scope, the governor said.
A Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle was found in a towel in a wooded area along the path investigators believe Robinson took after firing a shot from a distant roof and then fleeing.
The clothes the suspect wore when confronted by law enforcement late Thursday were consistent with what he had on when he arrived on campus a day earlier, and a family member confirmed that he a drove a grey Dodge Challenger that surveillance video captured him driving to the university.
Kirk, pictured at the 2024 Republican National Convention, was assassinated Wednesday on the UVU campus in Orem, Utah as he held a Turning Point USA event.
Tyler Robinson, 22, named Friday as the alleged killer who shot Charlie Kirk, had a childhood obsession with guns and was seen posing with an M2 Browning 50. caliber machine gun in social media pictures.
Robinson's father recognized him from the photos released by the FBI and told him to turn himself in, authorities said.
He refused at first, but then changed his mind, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
His father reached out to their youth pastor for help, who also occasionally works with the US Marshals and called the agency so he could turn himself in, investigators said.
Robinson's arrest late Thursday capped a frenetic day-and-a-half search that just hours earlier seemed stuck when authorities pleaded for tips and leads from the public.
The assassination captivated the public not only because of Kirk's outsize influence in conservative political circles and his close connections with Trump but also because of the pressing questions it raised about the escalating toll of political violence that has spanned the ideological spectrum.