Authorities have named the suspect on Friday in connection with the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as 22-year-old Utah native Tyler Robinson, who is now in custody.
US President Donald Trump first broke the news that law enforcement had a suspect in custody on Friday, in what appears to be a significant breakthrough in the investigation.
“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,'” Trump said during his appearance on Fox television, adding that he found out about the arrest five minutes prior to joining the show.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox held a press conference, along with FBI Director Kash Patel, to announce the news.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We got him,” said Cox as he began his address.
“On the evening of 11 September, 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.”
Cox noted that the information was then relayed to other local and federal law enforcement officers handling the investigation.
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive, but they did describe evidence they said shed potential light on the slaying.
That includes engravings on bullet casings recovered from the high-powered rifle believed used in the attack, including one that said, “Hey, fascist! Catch!” Cox said.
In addition, a roommate shared with authorities messages from the chatting app Discord that involved a contact named Tyler and discussed a rifle wrapped in a towel, engraved bullets and a scope, the governor said.
A Mauser .30-calibre, bolt-action rifle was found in a wooded area along the path investigators believe Robinson took after firing a shot from a distant roof and then fleeing.
The clothes the suspect wore when confronted by law enforcement late Thursday were consistent with what he had on when he arrived on campus a day earlier, and a family member confirmed that he drove a grey Dodge Challenger that surveillance video captured him driving to the university, Cox said.
Robinson’s father recognised him from the photos released by the FBI and told him to turn himself in. Robinson refused at first, but then changed his mind, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
His father reached out for help to their youth pastor, who also occasionally works with the US Marshals and called the agency so he could turn himself in.
The Republican governor also revealed that investigators discovered through interviews conducted with the suspect’s close friends and family that Robinson had become “more political in recent years” and expressed his dislike of Kirk in the days leading up to the incident.
“Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU (Utah Valley University). 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,” noted Cox.
He also revealed that the suspect’s roommate shared a series of messages that Robinson had sent on the messaging service Discord, in which he appeared to discuss hiding a rifle at a drop-off point to retrieve later.
“The content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler, stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush.”
“Messages related to visually watching an area where a rifle was left and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages also referred to engraving bullets and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique,” added Cox.
The Utah governor reiterated his condemnation of the “cowardly” attack on Kirk’s life, which he once again stressed was a politically motivated attack.
He slammed the assassination as an attack “on all of us” which threatens the very core of the “American experiment,” ideals and principles.
Cox took a moment to address the youth towards the end of his briefing, urging them to protect their democracy and reject political violence of all kinds.
