UPDATE: Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week, was charged with aggravated murder on Tuesday, as prosecutors announced their intent to seek the death penalty.
Jeffrey Gray, Utah County Attorney, told reporters that Robinson also is being charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
On the notice of intent to seek the death penalty, Gray said, “I do not take this decision lightly, and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney.”
Robinson will continue to be held without bail in the Utah County Jail, he said.
On Friday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced that the suspect was in custody, and authorities later revealed his identity.
Robinson is scheduled to appear in court later on Tuesday.
Kirk. 31, was assassinated on Wednesday as he addressed a large outdoor crowd at Utah Valley College.
In the press conference, Gray said that Robinson’s mother said that her son “had become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans rights oriented.” Robinson’s mother also started that he began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning between genders.
“This resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views,” Gray said. In one conversation before the shooting, Gray said, Robinson mentioned “that Charlie Kirk would be holding an event at UVU, which Robinson said was a ‘stupid venue’ for the event. Robinson accused Kirk of spreading hate.”
Robinson’s father said that when his wife showed him the surveillance image of the suspect, he agreed that it looked like their son, Gray said. He also believed that a rifle police recovered matched on that he gave to his son as a gift.
His father contacted Robinson and asked him to send a photo of the rifle, Gray said. But Robinson did not respond. But his father spoke on the phone with him, and robinson “implied that he planned to take his own life.” His parents convinced him to meet at their home.
“As they discussed the situation, Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it,” Gray said. “When asked why he did it, Robinson explained that there was too much evil, and the guy, referring to Charlie Kirk, spreads too much hate.” They convinced Robinson to speak to a family friend, a retired deputy sheriff, about turning himself in.
PREVIOUSLY, Sept. 12: The suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk is in custody, the governor of Utah told reporters.
The suspect was identified as Tyler Robinson, 22.
“We got him,” Gov. Spencer Cox said.
The governor said that the suspect is believed to have acted alone.
Cox said that a family member of Robinson reached out to a family friend, who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with “information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”
He said that investigators identified Robinson arriving in a gray Dodge Challenger at about 8:29 a.m. MT on Sept. 10. He said that when Robinson was encountered by investigators early on Friday morning, he was “observed in consistent clothing” with the surveillance images gathered from campus cameras.
A family member had stated to investigators that Robinson “had become more political” in recent years, and referenced a recent incident in which he came to dinner. “In a conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned that Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family members also said that Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”
Investigators also identified the roommate of Robinson, Cox said, who showed them messages on Discord. Included in the messages was one from Robinson’s phone contact name, “stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush.” The messages also related to “visually watching the area where” a rifle was left, and “referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.”
The messages also referred to the “engraving bullets and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique.” The messages also mentioned that he had changed outfits, Cox said.
Authorities said on Thursday that they believed they had recovered the weapon used in the shooting, a high-powered bolt action rifle. It was found in a nearby wooded area, authorities said.
Cox said that the rifle had a scope mounted on top of it. Inscriptions found on a fired casing read: “Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” The inscription on an unfired casings read “Hey fascist! Catch!,” followed by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols. On another casing, the inscription read, “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao.” On another, it read, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
The Associated Press reported that Robinson’s father recognized his son from the images released by law enforcement, and then encouraged his son to turn himself in. A youth pastor helped Robinson surrender to police, the AP reported. FBI Director Kash Patel said that the suspect was taken into custody at 10 p.m. MT on Thursday.
Earlier, President Donald Trump, in an in-studio appearance on Fox & Friends, told the hosts, “I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody, in custody. Everyone did a great job. We worked with the local police, the governor.”
The FBI and Utah authorities have not yet released any information. On Thursday night, additional video was released of the suspect, dropping from a rooftop after the shooting, as authorities asked the public for tips and assistance in identifying him. They also offered $100,000 for information that led to the arrest of the suspect.
Trump said that he had been told about the suspect about five minutes before his Fox & Friends appearance.
The president indicated that the suspect was brought “to a U.S. Marshal, who was fantastic. And the father convinced the son, ‘This is it.’ I am always subject to be corrected, but I’m just giving you based on what I am hearing.” Trump said that “essentially somebody that was very close to him turned him in.”
In the initial aftermath of the shooting, there were initial reports from Utah Valley University that a suspect was in custody, but that was not the case. Later, FBI Director Kash Patel said that a “subject” had been caught, but he later announced that person had been released. Another person also had been interviewed and released.
Kirk, one of the most prominent political activists and organizers on the right, had been addressing thousands of college students at an outdoor event. Kirk had been asked a question about transgender individuals involved in mass shootings, a single shot was heard, striking him in the neck. About two hours later, Trump announced his death on Truth Social. The president said on Thursday that he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
At a press conference on Thursday, Cox warned that there was “tremendous amounts of misinformation” about the assassination, particularly on social media.
“What we’re seeing is, our adversaries want violence,” Cox said. “We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world, that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams, and to spend a little more time with our families.”
