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Charging documents are expected to be filed early next week which could offer more details surrounding the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the 22-year-old accused in his murder.
Utah authorities identified the suspected shooter Friday as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah.
On Friday morning, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said investigators arrested and identified the suspect after analyzing surveillance footage, reviewing online messages between Robinson and his roommate, and interviewing Robinson’s family members.
“Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years,” Cox said Friday. “Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had.”
The shooting happened Wednesday at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was touring with the group Turning Point USA, which he co-founded.
His killing launched a multi-day manhunt, before the suspected shooter’s family reportedly recognized him from released videos and photos and confronted him.
According to Gov. Cox, a family member of Robinson’s 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.
“Over the last 48 hours, I have been as angry as I have ever been. As sad as I have ever been,” Cox said. “I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence. There is one person responsible for what happened here.”
NBC News reports Utah and national public records associated with the suspect’s name and birthdate found no indication of the 22-year-old having a prior criminal record.
His last voter registration date was on July 13, 2021, with no political party declared.
Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Hersey Gun Violence Center, said there appears to be amplified interest in this case due to the ‘celebrity nature’ of Kirk, considered an influential voice in the Trump administration.
“A lot of people felt very attached to Mr. Kirk, so his loss hit people hard,” Anestis said. “On top of that, as someone who was very engaged with youth, very engaged with social media.”
Anestis added, social media is not a great landscape for patience. It’s also where unverified information about the suspect can quicky run rampant, he said.
“There just isn’t a profile that helps us understand who is going to do this. Each story is a little bit different, even if there are some themes that are shared,” he said. “People want there to be one, because it creates a simple story. A bad guy we can wrap our heads around and then look out for.”
However, he pointed to ‘one variable’ that is a common denominator.
“The only variable that’s the same across all shooters is ready access to firearms. That’s it. So, if people want a profile, that’s the profile…folks with ready access to firearms,” he said. “But the vast majority with ready access to firearms would never even think about doing such a thing. So, it’s not a very good profile, right?”
He said the other commonality of gun violence is the far-reaching impact it has, regardless of where it happens or whether who the victim is.
“It [gun violence] doesn’t have a political agenda,” he said. “While we might disagree on the solutions to the problem, nobody wants to see this. No side is cheering for this. Are there are some folks on any side on any political spectrum who might say some awful things in response? Sure, but they don’t represent the reality. We are more similar than we are dissimilar and situations like this should get us to find ways to calm down and unify, not further alienate ourselves from one another and create a battle that can never be solved.”
Robinson is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice, according to a probable cause affidavit.
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Lili Zheng
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