Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah resident accused of killing MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk, has been formally charged with aggravated murder.
At a press conference announcing charges against him Tuesday, state prosecutors revealed text messages sent by Robinson to his roommate and alleged romantic partner, in which he appeared to take responsibility for the fatal shooting at Utah Valley University last week.
Robinson evaded capture for 33 hours after allegedly opening fire on Kirk from a rooftop around 160 yards away from where he was speaking, jumping off a roof and disappearing in the ensuing chaos. The right-wing influencer, 31, died several hours after being struck in the neck by the bullet.
Robinson has been formally charged with aggravated murder and six other charges, including obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Here’s what we know about the alleged killer:
Who is the suspect?
Robinson grew up in the conservative southern Utah city of Washington with his mom, a trained social worker who works at Intermountain Support Coordination Services; dad, a police officer and kitchen fitter; and two brothers, social media pictures suggest.
He has been described as “quiet” by people who know him, as well as a straight-A student. His grandmother claimed she had “never” heard her grandson discuss politics. However, family members told investigators that Robinson had become “more political” in recent years.
Utah voting information seen by The Independent shows the 22-year-old’s voter status is “inactive,” meaning he has not voted in the last two general elections or responded to notices sent by a county clerk.
His party affiliation is listed as “unaffiliated,” while both his parents are registered Republicans, according to state voter records.
“Most of my family members are Republican. I don’t know any single one who’s a Democrat. I’m just so confused,” the suspect’s grandmother, Debbie Robinson, 69, told the Daily Mail. Pictures on social media show Robinson dressed in a Trump costume for Halloween in 2017.
Robinson did not attend Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
He received a resident presidential scholarship to Utah State University, but only attended the institution for one year. He then moved home to complete an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah, according to the Utah System of Higher Education.
He was living in an apartment in the city at the time of the shooting.
What has he been charged with?
Robinson has been charged with seven counts, the most serious of which are aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm. Aggravating factors have been applied to those charges based on targeting Kirk over political expression and knowing that children were present and would witness the homicide.
The full charges are:
Count 1: Aggravated murder
Count 2: Felony discharge of firearm
Count 3: Obstruction of justice, for moving and concealing a rifle
Count 4: Obstruction of justice, for disposing of clothing
Count 5: Witness tampering, for directing roommate to delete texts
Count 6: Witness tampering, directing roommate to stay silent
Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, for committing homicide knowing children present
Federal officials are also weighing bringing a case against Robinson.
Could Robinson face the death penalty?
Announcing the charges Tuesday, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said that he would be seeking the death penalty in the case.
“This is not a decision I take lightly,” he said.
A jury in the case would first have to determine Robinson’s guilt and then if he is eligible for execution. He would otherwise face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. The state conducted its last execution in 2024, ending a 15-year hiatus for capital punishment in Utah.
Utah criminal defense attorney Clayton Simms told Fox13 that factors including the death of a “public official,” particular cruelty and the fact that he put others at risk during the incident, may possibly sway a jury in favor of execution.
“If you kill someone in front of 3,000 live witnesses, if you kill someone knowing that it’s going to have an impact beyond the state of Utah… that could be particularly cruel,” Simms said.
Robinson’s age or possible mental health issues may count as mitigating factors, the outlet reported. Mitigating factors can be used during trial to show why a person should not be given a death sentence.
President Donald Trump has also called for the death penalty; however, Gray said Tuesday that he had made the decision “independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime.”
Robinson’s next court appearance will be on September 29, and a judge needs to consider whether the state has enough evidence before proceeding to a trial.
Robinson has yet to be arraigned or enter a plea. Local officials have said the 22-year-old is indigent and have sought to assign him government-appointed legal counsel.
What is the evidence?
Authorities said Tuesday that Robinson left a note for his roommate under his keyboard implicating himself in Kirk’s murder, and then had a text conversation in which he also said he had committed the crimes.
In an interview on Fox and Friends, FBI director Kash Patel explained that the note had been “destroyed,” but that they had forensic evidence of the note. Patel explained that the FBI believed the note existed before the shooting and was in Robinson’s and his roommate’s home.
Patel summarized the contents of the note as something to the effect of, “I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” This content of the message, he said, was gleaned through interviews.
Robinson told his roommate, who authorities say is biologically male and transitioning to female, that he had planned the crime for more than a week, according to messages obtained by investigators.
In the exchange, Robinson said he had “hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age,” and apologized for involving them.
“If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence,” he wrote. “Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.”
Robinson also told his roommate to delete their texts and not talk to the media.
Robinson later allegedly messaged friends on the social messaging platform Discord, writing, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all…it was me at UVU yesterday. I’m sorry for all of this.”
DNA matching Robinson was also found on the trigger a the rifle discovered by detectives, and on some of the shell casings. The gun belonged to his grandfather, authorities said.
Robinson was allegedly worried about leaving his grandfather’s rifle at the scene. “How the f*** would I explain losing it to my old man?”
What do we know about his potential motives?
State officials, as well as other members of the Republican party, have decried Kirk’s assassination as “politically motivated.”
While guest-hosting an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show on Monday in honor of his “dear friend,” Vice President JD Vance placed the blame at the feet of “left-wing extremism.” FBI Director Kash Patel also claimed that Robinson “subscribed to left-wing ideology,” citing comments by his family.
However, it is not clear whether Robinson’s motives were explicitly political, and officials have not publicly accused the 22-year-old of acting in concert with any accomplices or organized group to carry out the alleged plot.
The FBI has also recently recognized a new category of attacks by so-called nihilistic violent extremists, those who seek chaos more than any clear ideological end.
Robinson’s mother explained that, over the past year, the suspect had become “more political,” according to charging documents. His political stance started to lean to the left — in stark contrast to his parents — and he became more pro-gay and trans-oriented, the document added.
In a conversation before the shooting, Robinson mentioned Kirk would be holding an event at the university, which he called a “stupid venue.”
When asked by his roommate why he had committed the alleged crime, he replied, “I had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred,” according to police. ”Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Online figures on the political right have suggested without concrete evidence that Robinson’s alleged attack was directly related to having a roommate and romantic partner who was trans or transitioning, given Kirk’s regular criticism of transgender people.
Gray, the county attorney, declined this week to comment on whether transgender activism inspired the shooting.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has said the bureau is investigating if an “extended network” of individuals could be tied to the shooting.
The shell casings found by the rifle were engraved with messages that included, “Hey, fascist! Catch!” with an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols, an apparent reference to a button code in the video game Helldivers 2.
Another casing read, “oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao,” an apparent reference to “Bella ciao,” a song with roots in an Italian anti-fascist anthem during the Second World War. The song has also been popularized by the series Money Heist and the video game Far Cry 6.
The spent casing reportedly included the phrase “notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?” an apparent reference to an ironic meme. Another casing allegedly said, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
On Tuesday, Gray confirmed investigators believed the etched inscriptions on the bullets were “a big meme.”
How was he caught?
Law enforcement spent over a day searching for Robinson, releasing surveillance photos and videos of the 22-year-old and begging the public to help identify him.
According to the charging document, Robinson’s father said that when his wife showed him an image of the shooter in the news, he agreed that it looked like their son. He also believed the rifle looked like a weapon he had gifted his son.
“Tyler, is this you?” Matt Robinson reportedly asked his son when he first saw the images, a law enforcement official told CNN. “This looks like you.”
After his mother agreed that the pictures released by authorities looked like him, she and his father called their son, asking what he knew about the crime, officials said.
When his father urged his son to turn himself in, the suspect reportedly responded: “I would rather kill myself than turn myself in.”
Robinson’s family convinced him to talk to a family friend who was a retired deputy sheriff, according to the charging document. The family friend convinced Robison to turn himself in, in part to avoid the police having to search his parents’ home.
