The suspected shooter in the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk has been arrested, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced on the morning of Sept. 12. He is a 22-year-old Utah resident named Tyler James Robinson.
“We got him,” Cox said at a press conference. “On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler 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.”
According to President Donald Trump, Robinson’s father convinced his son to turn himself in.
“The father convinced the son, this is it,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.
The family friend was a minister who then reached out to a U.S. marshal, Trump told Fox.
Robinson is believed to have acted alone, according to Cox, and while a personal dislike for Kirk was suspected, authorities said “there’s nothing more that we can share” when questioned about a possible motive.
He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a weapon causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice. They are all felony charges, and the aggravated murder charge carries the possibility of the death penalty. Official charges are expected to be filed early next week, Cox said.
Both Trump and Cox have called for the suspect to face the death penalty, which is still practiced in Utah.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Here’s what we know about the suspect.
Politically Active, Disliked Charlie Kirk
Cox told members of the press that the family member said that Robinson had become very politically active in recent years. His dislike for Kirk was known, and allegedly shared by at least one other member of his family.
Robinson had become “more political” in recent years, Cox told members of the press, citing a family member.
“Robinson came to dinner prior to September 10, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU,” Cox said.
“They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had.”
Politically charged statements were engraved on ammunition casings found with the rifle allegedly used and left behind by Robinson, Cox said.
An inscription on a fired casing allegedly said, “Notices, bulges, OwO, what’s thiss,” a sexual statement that has connections to the furry community, normally used mockingly.
Another allegedly read, “Hey fascists! Catch!” with an up arrow, a right arrow, and three down arrow symbols. The antifa insignia features three down arrows, but no direct connection was confirmed.
A third allegedly had the lyrics to an old Italian anti-fascist song, “O bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao.”
A fourth allegedly read, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
Records from the state of Utah registry indicate that Robinson was a registered voter, but not affiliated with either major political party.
Cox said investigators were shown messages on social media platform Discord, sent to Robinson’s roommate, allegedly referencing the engraved bullets.
Those messages also allegedly included notes about the need to retrieve a rifle and the need to keep watch over the area where the rifle—believed by law enforcement to be a Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle—and other items were left, including clothes he wore earlier that day.
A spokesperson from Discord addressed the use of the platform by those involved with the shooting, after Cox noted the use of the app by the suspect’s roommate.
An internal investigation found no evidence that the suspect promoted violence or planned the shooting on its platform, the spokesperson said.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
The company said it removed the suspect’s account for “violating our off-platform behavior policy,” that it “strongly condemn[s] violence of any kind, including political violence,” and that it would continue to work closely with law enforcement.
The spokesperson said, “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and extend our condolences to the Kirk family and everyone affected.”
Family and Education
Robinson was raised and lived in Washington County, Utah, with both his mother and father. Images posted by his parents on social media showed what appeared to be a happy family that loved to travel.
Social media posts spanning over a decade from Robinson’s parents, Matthew Robinson and Amber Jones Robinson, show the pair with three children on family vacations, weddings, birthday parties, and surprise trips to places like Disney World.
The posts showed Amber Jones Robinson praised her husband, Matthew, for everything he did for the family and their three boys, and took each of the children on yearly one-on-one dinners to connect before each school year started.
One posting included photos of a 2015 trip, which showed the family in attendance at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles, with a sign featured, saying, “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
The Epoch Times has attempted to contact Robinson’s parents.
Steven Dunham, director of communications for the Washington County School District, confirmed to The Epoch Times that Robinson was enrolled in the district from 2008 until 2021, when he graduated. During that time, he received concurrent enrollment credit through Utah Tech University.
He was then accepted to Utah State University, which told The Epoch Times in an email that he was also awarded a prestigious academic scholarship. But he dropped out after only one semester.
Ellen Treanor, associate vice president of strategic communications at Utah Valley University, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that Robinson “briefly attended Utah State University” for one semester in 2021, and “received concurrent enrollment credit through Utah Tech University while in high school (2019-2021).”
Treanor said the alleged shooter was a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College. The Epoch Times has reached out to Dixie Technical College to confirm that information.
The program trains students to be electricians, lighting technicians, or electrical repair specialists. The school is located in St. George, Utah, near the Robinson family home, and has around 1,500 students.
Jackson Richman, Travis Gillmore, Arjun Singh, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
