Two people who were detained and later released following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk faced a number of threats and scrutiny even after police said they were not suspects, police said Thursday.

“These individuals were not suspects. They were people of interest,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said. “They don’t deserve that harassment."

Both the FBI and the state's public safety department issued a joint statement Wednesday night with the full names of both people, saying they were initially taken in as suspects.

By then, photos of one of those men being handcuffed shortly after Kirk was shot Wednesday at Utah Valley University had been circulating online with his name. The name of the second man also began appearing on social media sites.

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