$100,000 (€85,000): That's the reward the FBI is offering anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of the killer of pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk. $100,000: a sign of impotence, since as of Friday morning, September 12, the perpetrator has yet to be apprehended.

Authorities tried to put on a brave face around 7:30 pm on Thursday during a 10-minute press briefing on the campus of Utah Valley University, where the attack took place. Utah Governor Spencer Cox vowed to seek the death penalty for the killer, and praised the 7,000 tips received by the police – a record number since the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013 – along with the 200 interviews conducted by investigators. In reality, the investigation has stalled. "We cannot do our job without the public's help," the Republican official said.

The situation has turned into a fierce reckoning for Kash Patel, the head of the FBI, who traveled from Manhattan, where he had been commemorating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 45-year-old former attorney, born in New York to Indian parents, visited the crime scene but arrived empty-handed. At the press conference, which he had not wanted to hold and at which no questions were allowed, he stood stiffly, staring blankly ahead in a FBI jacket. A loyal ally of Donald Trump, known for promoting conspiracy theories, denouncing the so-called "deep state" and vowing to purge those he claimed helped Joe Biden allegedly rig the 2020 presidential election, Patel appeared overwhelmed by the situation. He did not utter a single word during the 10-minute event.

You have 81.84% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.