The gunman suspected of firing the shot that killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week at Utah Valley University is now in police custody, authorities announced.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on Thursday night.
“We got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a televised news conference on Friday, Sept. 12.
Robinson is being held without bail. He is expected to be charged with murder.
His father recognized him from a surveillance image released to the public and encouraged him to turn himself in. He initially refused, but later changed his mind.
The father contacted a youth pastor, who is also a member of the U.S. Marshals. The youth pastor acted as an intermediary and helped Robinson surrender.
Related: Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Fatally Shot
While President Trump blamed the “radical left” for the slaying, CNN obtained Robinson’s voter registration records, which listed him as unaffiliated with a political party. The registration was “inactive” because he hadn’t voted in at least two recent general elections.
Robinson had received an academic scholarship to attend Utah State University, but dropped out after one semester, CNN reported.
Governor Cox addressed Robinson’s political views while speaking to reporters.
“Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years,” Cox said.
The suspect specifically expressed disdain for Kirk at a family dinner.
“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 governor said. “The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”
Cox thanked Robinson’s family, “who did the right thing.”
According to the FBI, a high-powered bolt-action rifle used in the attack was found discarded in a wooded area on campus. The rifle is being analyzed at an FBI crime lab.
Governor Cox said investigators found other evidence linking Robinson to the shooting, including engraved bullets retrieved from the scene.
“Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read ‘Hey, fascist! Catch!'” Cox said, adding, “There was also an “‘Up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols.'”
Robinson’s roommate shared messages from the Discord communications app attributed to the suspect with police.
“The content of these messages included … stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush,” Cox said. “The messages also referred to engraving bullets and a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique. Messages from the contact Tyler also mentioned that he had changed outfits.”
Cox said some people are asking why law enforcement is putting so many resources into investigating Kirk’s death, when there are shootings daily in the U.S.
According to Cox, who is a Republican, this is “much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us.”
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The Turning Point USA co-founder was speaking to students at Utah Valley University in Orem at one of his “Prove Me Wrong” debate events. Video circulating on social media showed him answering a question about gun violence just as a bullet struck him in the neck.
Security rushed him to a nearby SUV and he was transported to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Police said the single shot was fired from a building 200 yards away.
Kirk was married and a father of two small children.
The right-wing gun rights advocate was controversial. Since the shooting, his comments saying gun deaths are “worth it” to maintain the Second Amendment right to bear arms have once again gone viral.
“You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death that is nonsense. It’s drivel,” Kirk said in 2023. “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal.”
He also made a number of racist comments about Black people.
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified,” he said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast in 2024.
“If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. But now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … We know, you do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.” he said on The Charlie Kirk Show in 2023.
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
