Authorities announce arrest of Charlie Kirk's alleged killer
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Left: Tyler Robinson (Utah Governor’s Office). Right: Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at the Turning Point Believers’ Summit, Friday, July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

A Utah man has been apprehended in relation to the shooting death of well-known conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, as announced by authorities on Friday morning.

Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody by investigators at around 10 p.m. on Sept. 11, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

“We got him,” stated Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox during the press conference announcing the arrest. “On the evening of September 11th, a relative of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who then contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office after Robinson reportedly confessed or hinted at his involvement in the incident.”

Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated by a sniper’s bullet at around 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10.

University officials quickly determined the probable location of the shooter’s position to be the roof of the Losee Center – approximately 200 yards from where Kirk was seated in a tent, engaging in one of his renowned debates. During his last moments, Kirk was conversing with a student about gun violence.

Authorities recovered an older model Mauser bolt action .30-06 caliber rifle, wrapped in a towel and equipped with a long-distance scope, from a wooded area adjacent to the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah. The firearm was discovered with a single expended shell casing in its bolt mechanism, officials reported.

The fired casing was allegedly engraved with the phrase: “Notices bulges OWO what’s this?” which is an apparent reference to a meme.

During the press conference, Gov. Cox clarified misinformation about the inscriptions on the bullet casings. Initial reports suggested the bullets bore “transgender and antifascist” ideology. The governor of the Beehive State noted that one unspent casing was inscribed with the phrase: “Hey fascist! Catch!” accompanied by a series of arrows, seemingly referencing a video game controller code. The second bullet casing allegedly read: “If you read this you are gay LMAO.” The third unfired bullet supposedly contained lyrics from the Italian folk song “Bella Ciao,” typically regarded as an anti-fascist anthem.

Those descriptions of the gun, ammunition and location where they were found aligned with similar descriptions allegedly made by Robinson to his roommate in a series of Discord messages, Cox said.

Multiple attendees at the American Comeback Tour event filmed the incident as it happened. Numerous such videos, many of them exceedingly graphic, made their way across social media in the immediate aftermath of the violence. Later, social media companies began to clamp down on sharing such footage – along with posts viewed as celebrating or glorifying the incident.

The next morning, authorities released two photos of a “subject” which, in FBI parlance, is effectively akin to the law enforcement phrase “person of interest.” Those photos depict a white male wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, blue jeans, and a dark-colored long-sleeve shirt with a stylized American flag graphic on the chest.

Within 24 hours of the shooting, law enforcement had received in excess of 200 tips. By Thursday afternoon, the FBI issued a $100,000 reward for evidence leading to the apprehension of a suspect. Patel, during the Friday morning press conference, said authorities had ultimately received in excess of 11,000 tips.

Robinson is expected to be charged with counts of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by NBC News.

Tyler Robinson appears in a booking photo in profile.

Tyler Robinson in profile (Utah Governor’s Office).

Robinson is not a student at UVU, authorities said. The alleged killer lived in Washington County – which is located some 260 miles southwest of the UVU campus.

One member of the defendant’s family described a recent change in Robinson, noting that he had become more political, according to Cox. That family member went on to describe a recent dinner where the subject of Kirk’s upcoming UVU appearance was discussed.

“It is an attack on all of us,” Cox said, of Kirk’s killing and broader political violence. “It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been, and who we could be in better times.”

Robinson did not vote in the last presidential election and is not registered to vote in primary elections for any political party in Utah, Law&Crime has learned.

Kirk’s assassination is widely viewed as a watershed moment in U.S. politics, if not the makings of martyrdom. The 31-year-old father’s public killing set off a torrent of sadness and anger among Republican politicians and fellow conservative influencers. His passing also drew plaudits from some of his political opponents.

President Donald Trump was one of the first sources to confirm Kirk’s death and addressed the nation later that same night – promising a heavy-handed crackdown against “each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.”

The 45th and 47th president also announced the arrest during a Friday morning appearance on Fox News.

“Somebody that’s close recognizes even a little tilt of the head, which nobody else would do,” Trump said. “And somebody that was very close to him said ‘hmm, that’s him’ and essentially went to the father, went to a U.S. Marshal.”

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