What we know so far about man accused in Charlie Kirk's killing
What we know so far about man accused in Charlie Kirk's killing
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We got him on the evening of September 11th. *** family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to *** 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. This information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff's Office and senior investigators at Utah Valley University. This information was also conveyed to the FBI. Investigators reviewed additional video footage from UVU surveillance and identified Robinson arriving on UVU campus in *** gray Dodge Challenger at approximately 8:29 a.m. on September 10th, in which he is observed on video in *** plain maroon t-shirt, light colored shorts, *** black hat with *** white logo, and light colored shoes. When encountered in person by investigators in Washington County on September 12th in the early morning hours, Robinson was observed in consistent clothing with those surveillance images. Investigators interviewed *** family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years. The family member referenced *** recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to September 10th, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate. The family member also confirmed Robinson had *** gray Dodge Challenger. Investigators identified an individual as the roommate of Robinson. Investigators interviewed that roommate who stated that his roommate, referring to Robinson made *** joke on Discord. Investigators asked if he would show them the messages on Discord. He opened it and showed several messages to investigators and allowed investigators to take photos of the screen as each message was shown by Robinson's roommate. These photos consisted of various messages. Including content of messages between the phone contact name Tyler with an emoji icon and Robinson's roommate's device, the content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler stating *** need to retrieve *** rifle from *** drop point, leaving the rifle in *** bush. Messages related to *** to visually watching the area where *** rifle was left and *** message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in *** towel. The messages also refer to engraving bullets and *** mention of *** scope and the rifle being unique messages from the contact Tyler also mentioned that he had changed outfits. I know there has been speculation as well as to the writing on those casings. Those, those, uh, those bullet casings. And uh I believe we have that as well. And I will, I will share that with you now. So the area north of Campus Drive Road where the suspect crossed over, you saw some of that in the video that we released last night, consists of *** grassy area with trees on the edge of the UVU campus. Investigators discovered *** bolt action rifle wrapped in *** dark colored towel. The rifle was determined to be *** Mauser model 98 30 0636 caliber bolt action rifle. The rifle had *** scope mounted on top of it. Investigators noted inscriptions that had been engraved on casings found with the rifle. Inscriptions on *** fired casing read Notices bulges OWO. What's this question mark? Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read Hey fascist exclamation point, catch. Up arrow symbol, right arrow, and uh symbol and 3 down arrow symbols. *** second unfired casing read Oh Bellahoow, Bellahow, Bellahow chow chow, and *** third unfired casing red if you read this, you are gay LMAO. We are indebted to law enforcement across the state who's worked seamlessly together, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, and our federal partners with the uh with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We're grateful for everyone who worked together in, in such *** short amount of time to uh to find this person. and to, uh, and to bring justice. I want to thank the public who has been so engaged, reviewing, uh, reviewing videos, helping us with, uh, sending in tips and uh helping us get to this point. I want to thank uh the uh the family members of Tyler Robinson who did the right thing in this case and we're able to uh to bring him into uh to law enforcement as well. I especially want to thank the family of Charlie Kirk, Erica, um, Charlie's parents, his children. I want us to be thinking of them as we bring justice in this case. Um, they will be involved in that justice. We will be working very closely with them as we move through this process as well. This is *** very sad day for again for our country. *** terrible day for the state of Utah, but I'm grateful that at this moment we have an opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation's history.
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What we know so far about man accused in Charlie Kirk's killing
A 22-year-old man is in custody, accused of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what authorities called a targeted attack. Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.President Donald Trump first announced the suspect was in custody during an interview Friday with Fox News Channel. A news conference with local, state and federal officials shed additional light on the man authorities believe was behind the killing. Here's what we know about the suspect:The suspect has been identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah. He was arrested on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offenses. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said a family member of Robinson's reached out to a friend, who contacted authorities with information that Robinson had confessed or implied that he carried out the shooting. Robinson's family said he had become more political in recent years and criticized Kirk. A roommate shared with law enforcement messages from a chatting app that were attributed to the shooting suspect. Bullet casings from the weapon believed to have been used in the attack were engraved with messages. One read “hey fascist. catch," another read “if you read this you are gay LMAO," and a third referenced “Bella Ciao,” a classic Italian song popular with the political left.Voter registration records show that Robinson is registered to vote unaffiliated with any party, although he is also listed as an “inactive” voter, meaning he hadn’t voted in at least the most recent two general elections. Social media photos show Robinson wearing gray Converse shoes and sunglasses that appear similar to those worn by the shooting suspect in photos released by law enforcement earlier this week. Cox did not say whether Robinson was cooperating with investigators.Robinson is believed to have acted alone, but the investigation is ongoing, officials said. The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.
A 22-year-old man is in custody, accused of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what authorities called a targeted attack. Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.
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President Donald Trump first announced the suspect was in custody during an interview Friday with Fox News Channel. A news conference with local, state and federal officials shed additional light on the man authorities believe was behind the killing.
Here's what we know about the suspect:
- The suspect has been identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah.
- He was arrested on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offenses.
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said a family member of Robinson's reached out to a friend, who contacted authorities with information that Robinson had confessed or implied that he carried out the shooting.
- Robinson's family said he had become more political in recent years and criticized Kirk.
- A roommate shared with law enforcement messages from a chatting app that were attributed to the shooting suspect.
- Bullet casings from the weapon believed to have been used in the attack were engraved with messages. One read “hey fascist. catch," another read “if you read this you are gay LMAO," and a third referenced “Bella Ciao,” a classic Italian song popular with the political left.
- Voter registration records show that Robinson is registered to vote unaffiliated with any party, although he is also listed as an “inactive” voter, meaning he hadn’t voted in at least the most recent two general elections.
- Social media photos show Robinson wearing gray Converse shoes and sunglasses that appear similar to those worn by the shooting suspect in photos released by law enforcement earlier this week.
- Cox did not say whether Robinson was cooperating with investigators.
- Robinson is believed to have acted alone, but the investigation is ongoing, officials said.
The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.