Prosecutors brought a murder charge Tuesday against the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk and outlined evidence, including a text message confession to his partner and a note left beforehand saying he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices “and I’m going to take it.”
DNA on the trigger of the rifle that killed Kirk also matched that of Tyler Robinson, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said while outlining the evidence and announcing charges that could result in the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.
The prosecutor said the suspect, 22, wrote in one text that he spent more than a week planning the attack on Kirk, a prominent force in politics credited with energizing the Republican youth movement and helping Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy,” Gray said.
Kirk was gunned down Sept. 10 while speaking with students at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors allege the gunman shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby building on the campus in Orem, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
The suspect appeared briefly Tuesday before a judge by video from jail. He nodded slightly at times but mostly stared straight ahead as the judge read the charges against him and appointed an attorney to represent him. The suspect’s family has declined to comment to The Associated Press since his arrest.
Was Charlie Kirk targeted over anti-transgender views?
Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but Gray said that the gunman wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
The suspect also left a note for his partner hidden under a keyboard that said, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” according to Gray.
The prosecutor declined to answer whether the gunman targeted Kirk for his anti-transgender views. Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings, gun violence and transgender people.
“That is for a jury to decide,” Gray said.
The suspect was involved in a romantic relationship with his roommate, a man who investigators say was transgender, which hasn’t been confirmed. Gray said the partner has been cooperating with investigators.
The suspect’s partner appeared shocked in the text exchange after the shooting, according to court documents, asking the suspect “why he did it and how long he’d been planning it.”
Parents said their son became more political
While authorities say the gunman hasn’t been cooperating with investigators, they say his family and friends have been talking.
The suspect’s mother told investigators that their son had turned left politically in the last year and became more supportive of gay and transgender rights after dating a transgender man, Gray said.
Those decisions prompted several conversations in the household, especially between the suspect and his father. They had different political views and the suspect told his partner in a text that his dad had become a “diehard MAGA” since Trump was elected.
The suspect’s mother recognized him when authorities released a picture of the suspect and his parents confronted him, at which time the suspect said he wanted to kill himself, Gray said.
The family persuaded him to meet with a family friend who is a retired sheriff’s deputy, who persuaded the suspect to turn himself in, the prosecutor said.
The gunman was arrested late Thursday near St. George, the southern Utah community where he grew up, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of where the shooting happened.
Suspect detailed movements after the shooting
In a text exchange with his partner released by authorities, the suspect wrote: “I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its quiet, almost enough to get out, but theres one vehicle lingering.”
Then he wrote: “Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.” After that, he sent: “I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it.”
He also was worried about losing his grandfather’s rifle and mentioned several times in the texts that he wished he had picked it up, according to the texts shared in court documents, which did not have timestamps. It was unclear how long after the shooting the gunman was texting.
“To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” the suspect wrote in another text to his partner.
Prosecutor says suspect told partner to delete texts
The suspect discarded the rifle and clothing and asked his roommate to conceal evidence, Gray said.
The gunman was charged with felony discharge of a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, and obstructing justice, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
He also was charged with witness tampering because he had directed his partner to delete their text messages and told him to stay silent if questioned by police, Gray said.
Kash Patel says investigators will look at everyone
FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday that agents are looking at “anyone and everyone” who was involved in a gaming chatroom on the social media platform Discord with the suspect. The chatroom involved “a lot more” than 20 people, he said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington.
“We are investigating Charlie’s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence,” Patel said in response to a question about whether the Kirk shooting was being treated as part of a broader trend of violence against religious groups.
The charges filed Tuesday carry two enhancements, including committing several of the crimes in front of or close to children and carrying out violence based on the subject’s political beliefs.
Gray declined to say whether the suspect’s partner could face charges or whether anyone else might face charges.
Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a confidant of President Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations. He brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics.
In the days since Kirk’s assassination, Americans have found themselves facing questions about rising political violence, the deep divisions that brought the nation here and whether anything can change.
Despite calls for greater civility, some who opposed Kirk’s provocative statements about gender, race and politics criticized him after his death. Many Republicans have led the push to punish anyone they believe dishonored him, causing both public and private workers to lose their jobs or face other consequences at work.
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/KA7J4cr
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