North Texas family of man falsely linked to Charlie Kirk murder speaks out
A North Texas family is asking the public to stop spreading false claims that their son is linked to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to WFAA-TV.
Zachariah Qureshi, 25, who lives in Utah, attended Kirk’s rally at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, his family said.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday afternoon that a person of interest had been detained in the shooting, and the Utah Department of Safety later identified Qureshi as that person in a news release.
Qureshi was soon released after being questioned, and authorities said they determined there was no evidence connecting him to the shooting.
But social media users had already posted a photo of Qureshi’s student ID from Brigham Young University and details from his LinkedIn page after “at least one” major media outlet identified him as the suspect, according to WFAA.
Qureshi attended high school in North Texas before going to BYU and now lives in Provo.
“Zach Qureshi, 25, a newly-engaged MBA student, had gone to see Charlie Kirk and was standing about 25 feet away when Kirk was shot and later interviewed by the FBI,” Qureshi’s mother Juliette said in a statement Thursday.
Qureshi had attended another Turning Point event in the past and “was there to hear Charlie speak. He was devastated for his family. He didn’t have anything to tell the FBI that everyone there on the ground didn’t also see,” his mother said.
Since news about Qureshi broke, his mother said she has seen threats toward him online but that he is safe “for the moment.”
“After releasing them, and after clearing them of being suspects, they faced scrutiny, they faced threats,” Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner Beau Mason said of Qureshi and another person of interest.
Trump announces arrest of suspect Tyler Robinson
As of Thursday night, the assassination suspect remained at large. On Friday morning, President Donald Trump announced an arrest while being interviewed live on Fox and Friends, saying “I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody.”
A law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Friday that the suspect now in custody is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah.
Trump said that a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned Robinson in.
“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.
The FBI released images and surveillance video on Thursday that showed the then-unnamed suspect investigators were searching for, and a $100,000 reward was being offered for tips that would lead to an arrest.
Investigators say the video shows the suspect jumping from the rooftop of a campus building where they believe the gunshot was fired from. The FBI said they recovered the shooter’s rifle and ammunition from a wooded area near the university.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM.
