State and federal authorities released a joint update on Wednesday night on the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, saying that two people had been detained for questioning and later released.

In a press release issued by the Utah Department of Public Safety and the FBI, authorities said that George Zinn and Zachariah Qureshi had been taken into custody as suspects and questioned, but law enforcement found “no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals.” The statement added, “There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter.”

“The shooting is believed to be a targeted attack. The shooter is believed to have fired from the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard. Any additional clarifications cannot be provided to protect the integrity of our investigation,” authorities said.

Zinn, a 71-year-old man, is known in the Salt Lake City area for disrupting political events and has a criminal history dating back to the 1980s, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. In 2013, Zinn was charged with threatening to place bombs at the finish line of the Salt Lake City marathon. Zinn agreed to a plea deal in that case and was sentenced to probation. However, after he failed to meet the conditions of his probation, he was ordered to spend a year in jail, with credit for time served, according to the Tribune. Zinn was arrested again in 2019 after a protest in downtown Salt Lake City turned violent.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told the Tribune on Wednesday that Zinn leaned libertarian and would “give me a hard time for being a Dem.” He added that at “almost every political event you can think of, there was always George somewhere in the background, listening.”

The FBI began investigating shortly after Kirk was shot. The two subjects questioned by the FBI were released after FBI Director Kash Patel said earlier on Wednesday that the suspected assassin had been taken into custody. Patel later said, “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.”

According to officials, the Utah Valley University Police Department had six officers working the Kirk event, which was in addition to Kirk’s security detail. Around 3,000 people were in attendance to listen to Kirk when a gunman fired a single shot from the roof of a building near where Kirk was speaking at approximately 12:20 p.m. local time, according to authorities. Kirk was taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead “hours later.”

The assassin is believed to have fired from the Losee Center building, which was at least 200 yards away from where Kirk was speaking in a courtyard on campus. Law enforcement has not released a description of the suspected assassin, other than saying the suspect was “dressed in all dark clothing.”

The FBI urged the public to send in any information about the assassination to a tip line.

The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, were a wake-up call for America, and I sincerely hope it is not one we as a nation have forgotten. There are still folks out there who hate our freedoms and our way of life.

We are no longer protected by oceans and geographical distance from potential enemies. We must always remember we are a nation at risk and be prepared for the next attack. I do believe in peace through strength.

I was the Assistant Division Commander for the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division on the 11th of September in 2001. I was in the middle of packing to head to the airport when my wife Sarah asked me to turn on the television. Those TV images are still etched in my mind today, even though the event occurred 24 years ago.

CNN via Getty Images

Since that time I have deployed to Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Kosovo, and Iraq three times in varying capacities. And clearly, I am not alone. All uniformed military have had shared similar experiences. As I reflect back on that time, we went from a nation enjoying peace and prosperity to a nation at war.

In order to maintain our freedoms we need a strong military. We cannot afford to let the Department of Defense become a bill payer for programs not directly tied to our national security. We need to ensure all branches of our military are a ready fighting force — well equipped, well trained, and prepared to rapidly respond to any threat at a moment’s notice.

We also must actively support our nation’s veterans and their families because they sacrificed much to ensure we have the freedoms we enjoy today. Less than 1% of our country’s population serve in uniform at any one time, but we all enjoy the freedoms provided by that select few. Unfortunately, 76% of our population acknowledges that they have no idea what our veterans are going through because they just don’t know any veterans. That is wrong and must be addressed.

I remain concerned about the future of our great nation and want to ensure our kids and grandkids enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, freedom is only one generation removed from extinction. Let’s use today to reflect on those freedoms and commit to do everything we can to maintain them for generations to come.

* * *

Rick Lynch was privileged to serve 35 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Lieutenant General. During his time in the Army he commanded at all levels, from a platoon of 30 soldiers to a corps of 65,000. His last job in the Army was commanding all U.S. Army installations, with a workforce of 120,000. He now is the President of R. Lynch Enterprises, focused on building concerned, caring, adaptive leaders across our nation. He is the author of “Adapt or Die,” “Work Hard, Pray Hard,” and “We’re Not Robots.”

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.