Evidence put forth by Utah prosecutors Tuesday offered the clearest indication yet of what they suspect motivated Tyler Robinson to kill far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk.
In seized texts reproduced by prosecutors as they charged the 22-year-old with capital murder and other crimes after his arrest, Robinson is quoted talking to his partner – whom they described as “transitioning genders” – about having enough of Kirk’s “hatred”.
“Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” Robinson said to his partner of Kirk, who was killed during an event at Utah Valley University (UVU) within moments of asserting that “too many” people who are trans had committed mass shootings in the US. In reality, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive, only about 0.1% of such shootings over the previous decade had allegedly been carried out by people who are trans.
Prosecutors allege that, after Robinson’s arrest in Kirk’s killing, his mother told investigators that her son had spent the previous year or so becoming “more political and had started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans rights oriented”.
Combined with his relationship with his roommate, “this resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views”, prosecutors added.
Prior media reporting established that Robinson’s parents were registered Republican voters who cast ballots in the 2024 election that resulted in a second presidency for Donald Trump, with whom Kirk was closely aligned. Prosecutors said a text from Robinson to his roommate showed the suspect perceived his father to be “pretty diehard maga” – referring to Trump’s make America great again slogan – ever since the president retook the Oval Office in January.
According to prosecutors, “in one conversation before the shooting, Robinson mentioned that Charlie Kirk would be holding an event at UVU, which Robinson said was a ‘stupid venue’ for the event”, his mother told investigators.
Prosecutors recounted that the mother told investigators her son – during that conversation – also “accused Kirk of spreading hate”.
Robinson’s parents allegedly told investigators that they began to realize their son had evidently killed Kirk when his wife showed him a surveillance image of the suspected shooter in the news. According to prosecutors, the couple agreed it looked like Robinson – and his father, a licensed hunter, feared the rifle that police suspected had been used to kill Kirk matched one he gave his son as a gift.
The father and son soon spoke, and the younger man suggested he had killed Kirk, the elder Robinson reported to investigators, according to prosecutors. Tyler explained “there is too much evil” and the Turning Point USA executive director “spreads too much hate”.
Robinson eventually surrendered to authorities the day after Kirk’s killing with help from a family friend who was also a local law enforcement official.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence found on the rifle used to kill Kirk – which had been discarded near UVU – as well as texts to the roommate prior to Robinson’s arrest further tied him to the slaying.
News about engravings on bullet casings found near the Kirk murder weapon after the killing sparked widespread speculation about the political leanings of whoever wielded the rifle. But Robinson’s text to his roommate, as cited by prosecutors, evidently dismissed those as “fuckin … mostly a big meme”.
Prosecutors said those inscriptions included the phrases “hey fascist” and “O bella ciao,” the signature lyric of an Italian anti-fascist resistance song heard repeatedly on the popular Netflix show Money Heist.
Among the texts revealed by prosecutors was one in which the roommate asked Robinson, “You weren’t the one who did it right?”
Robinson – who referred to his roommate in the texts at least twice as his “love” – allegedly replied, “I am, I’m sorry.”
According to the texts, Robinson additionally apologized for having to “involve” the roommate. “I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age,” Robinson wrote, as prosecutors put it.
The most serious charge filed against Robinson is aggravated murder. Prosecutors said they intended to pursue the death penalty against Robinson if he was convicted of it – and the suspect would remain in custody without bond at the jail where he was booked after his arrest.
One of the aggravating factors supporting Robinson’s capital murder charge is the fact that he evidently targeted “Charlie Kirk based on Charlie Kirk’s political expression”, said Jeff Gray, the top state prosecutor in UVU’s home county.
With the Trump administration already threatening to crack down on liberal groups in the wake of Kirk’s murder, Gray said, “I do not take this decision lightly.
“And it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence – and circumstances and nature of the crime.”
