Details of the alleged assassin and how he was caught have emerged.
A young Utah man suspected of killing the influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a university in the city of Orem has been taken into custody, Utah Governor Spencer Cox has told reporters.
“We got him,” Cox told reporters.
The suspect, identified as Tyler Robinson, had confessed to a family friend – or “implied that he had committed the murder” to that friend – and that person in turn had contacted the Washington County sheriff’s office on Thursday.
A family member interviewed by investigators said Robinson had become more political recently and spoke in a disparaging manner about Kirk, Cox told reporters.
Robinson was taken into custody on Thursday night, about 33 hours after Kirk’s murder, FBI Director Kash Patel said at the press conference.
Robinson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a weapon causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice. All are state felony charges and aggravated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty.
Formal charges are expected early next week.
State and federal court records do not show any prior criminal cases involving Robinson.
Kirk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was killed by a single bullet as he spoke onstage at an outdoor amphitheatre at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Previously, US investigators said they had found the bolt-action rifle believed to have been used to kill Kirk and released images of a person of interest.
Investigators spoke to Robinson’s roommate, who showed them comments Robinson had made on Discord, a chat and streaming platform popular with gamers, discussing retrieving a rifle from a drop point and then leaving the rifle in a bush wrapped in a towel.
This matched the description of the gun that authorities recovered after the shooting in a wooded area near campus.
Suspect’s education
Robinson attended Dixie Technical College in Southern Utah, where he was a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program.
The program trains people to be electricians, lighting technicians or electrical repair specialists.
A spokeswoman for Utah Valley University, Ellen Treanor, said he had previously attended Utah State University for one semester in 2021. He also earned credit at Utah Tech University while he was in high school.
Dixie Technical College has about 1,500 students and is located in St. George, near his family’s home in Washington, Utah.
Inscriptions on ammunition
Ammunition found at the scene had been inscribed, Cox said.
Cox told reporters the messages on the casing included:
“Hey fascist! Catch!” with an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols, referencing a code used in the game to strike opponents with a bomb.
“What’s this.”
“Oh, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao.
“Notices bulge* OwO what’s this?
“If you read this, you are gay, LMAO.”
Cox, a Republican, called Kirk’s killing an “attack on the American experiment” and he urged a new generation to “choose a different path”.
Robinson is believed to have acted alone, and the investigation is ongoing, Cox said.
Discord disputes message details
In a statement to NBC News, a Discord spokesperson said the company did identify an account belonging to the suspect, but said the messages mentioned in the news conference were not believed to have been sent on Discord.
“In the course of our investigation, we identified a Discord account associated with the suspect, but have found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.
“The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages. These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.
“We have removed the suspect’s account for violating our off-platform behavior policy. We strongly condemn violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement.”
Police presence at suspect’s home
There was a heavy police presence outside the suspect’s family’s house in St George, Utah, as media arrived.
Window coverings were drawn, and a pickup truck was parked in front of the home on the street, blocking access to the driveway.
Officers routinely were warning people to stay off neighbours’ property. Both ends of the street also were blocked.
Kirk, a well-connected activist, author and podcast host, helped build support for Trump and the Republican Party among younger voters.
Kirk was the co-founder and president of the conservative student group Turning Point USA and appeared at Utah Valley on Wednesday as part of a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” of US college campuses.
His killing stirred outrage and denunciations of political violence from Republicans, Democrats and foreign governments.
Kirk frequently engaged with his critics from the far left to the far right, often inviting members of his audiences to debate him live.