Let me explain the meaning of my headline for those of you unfamiliar with the authority of the FBI to investigate Federal crimes while State and local authorities… The FBI does not have the authority to investigate Charlie Kirk’s murder unless there was foreign involvement or a clear violation of a Federal statute. The FBI is a federal agency with nationwide jurisdiction, but it can only investigate crimes that violate federal statutes (codified mostly in Title 18 of the U.S. Code) or that have a clear federal nexus. Typical FBI crimes include:
Crimes that cross state lines (interstate kidnapping, fugitive flight, human trafficking, large-scale drug trafficking)
Crimes against federal property, employees, or programs (bank robbery, federal corruption involving federal funds, mail/wire fraud)
Specifically enumerated federal offenses (terrorism, civil-rights violations under color of law, RICO for interstate organized crime, major cybercrimes affecting interstate commerce, child exploitation material crossing state lines, etc.)
Major crimes on federal land, Indian reservations, aircraft, or maritime jurisdiction
The FBI does not have general police powers. It cannot, on its own authority, investigate ordinary murder, rape, robbery, burglary, assault, theft, or street-level drug dealing unless one of the federal elements above is present. State and local authorities handle almost all “traditional” street crime and routine law enforcement. The FBI steps in only when Congress has specifically made the conduct a federal offense or when a clear interstate/federal interest exists.
Based on the indictment of the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk — i.e., a Utah resident allegedly committed murder in Utah — the FBI has no role or jurisdiction in the matter. Yet, for some reason, the FBI is involved in the case. Why?
This brings me back to the case of Seth Rich. Seth Rich was a 27‑year‑old staffer at the Democratic National Committee who was shot and killed in Washington, D.C., in the early morning of July 10, 2016. Police found him with two gunshot wounds to the back near his home in the Bloomingdale neighborhood; he was taken to a hospital and died about an hour and a half later.
…The assassination of Charlie Kirk, if the indictment of Tyler Robinson is true, was not a Federal crime. Yet the FBI, Homeland Security and DOJ all responded initially as if it was a Federal crime. Now, the matter is being handled as a state crime with no federal jurisdiction.
Based on the video evidence and public information regarding the destructive power of a .30-06 round, I do not believe that Tyler Robinson was the shooter. In fact, I think there is ample circumstantial evidence that would warrant the FBI taking a leading role in the investigation because of possible foreign involvement in Kirk’s murder. But that apparently is not happening…