Utah Governor Spencer Cox is facing backlash after admitting he had hoped the person responsible for the a₵₵assination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk would be “from another state or country.”

Authorities announced Friday that the suspect arrested in connection with Kirk’s shooting is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, a Utah native from a pro-gun Republican family.

At a press briefing, Cox said he was relieved a suspect had been captured but confessed that he had prayed it “wouldn’t be one of us.”

“For 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here, that it wouldn’t be one of us that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for. But it did happen here, and it was one of us,” the governor said.

Cox added that he thought it would have been “easier” to process had the suspect not been a Utah resident.

His remarks have sparked criticism, with many accusing the governor of deflecting responsibility and fueling division rather than focusing on addressing gun violence and political extremism at home.