Posts falsely claim Charlie Kirk shooting suspect was a Trump donor

After law enforcement on Sept. 12, 2025, arrested a suspect, Tyler Robinson, in the fatal shooting of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk, social media users began spreading a claim that Robinson donated to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. 

The claim primarily spread on X, although similar posts appeared on Instagram and Facebook. Many posts included a screenshot appearing to show a public financial contribution record, in which a “Tyler Robinson” purportedly donated about $225 to Trump’s 2020 campaign. 

(@Bulerious on X)

However, while a search for “Tyler Robinson” in public financial contribution records did come up with a person by that name who donated to Trump’s 2020 campaign, it was not the same person whom law enforcement arrested on charges related to Kirk’s assassination. As such, we have rated this claim false. 

(Federal Election Commission )

According to the Federal Election Commission, the Tyler Robinson who donated $224.48 to Trump listed an occupation of “ENTREPRENEUR” and lived in St. George, Utah, at ZIP code 84790. That Robinson donated the money on Oct. 5, 2020, to the “TRUMP MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN COMMITTEE.” 

Public records showed the shooting suspect’s residential address, in contrast, was in Washington, Utah, at ZIP code 84780 — physically close to the Robinson who donated to Trump, but not the same address.

The Federal Election Commission website has published the Trump donor’s full address. Looking at that address using the Washington County, Utah, property search webpage found that the Robinson who donated to Trump bought the St. George house along with his wife, according to the deed; the Trump donor sold that home in 2022, according to additional records. 

The shooting suspect, reportedly a 22-year-old as of this writing, would have been a minor in 2019. 

In Utah, children can only own or sell property if they are emancipated or married — but social media posts from the suspect’s mother depicted a close-knit family, according to USA Today, thus suggesting Robinson was not emancipated, and there was no indication that the suspect had married anyone; reputable news reports would have certainly included that. 

Furthermore, neither of the suspect’s parents’ names, based on reputable reports like the BBC, matched those of the people who bought the St. George house. Given the differing addresses and the evidence indicating that a Tyler Robinson not connected to the suspect lived in St. George, we felt confident saying that the Tyler Robinson who donated to Trump was a different person from the shooting suspect. 

It is worth noting that a search for Tyler Robinsons in Utah who have donated to political campaigns also comes up with a Robinson who donated to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform, but that Robinson lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, and thus was also not the suspect.