Details about Tyler Robinson, conservative activist Charlie Kirk's alleged killer, have begun to emerge.
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Details about Taylor Robinson, the suspect arrested in relation to the fatal shooting of conervative activist Charlie Kirk, have begun to emerge.
He is the oldest of three sons, does not appear to have a prior criminal record and his social media accounts comprise of family pictures.
How, then, did Taylor Robinson turn from a young, educated man into a suspect in a "political assassination" as it was described by authorities?
Family, education and political views
The 22-year-old Taylor Robinson grew up in a suburban community of Washington in Utah, not far from Utah Valley University where Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck in front of hundreds of students and supporters.
A high-scoring student and son of proud parents, Taylor Robinson earned a scholarship to attend Utah State University after graduating from Pine View High school in St George in 2021. This was according to a video posted by his mother where he reads his acceptance letter. Robinson latter dropped out after the first semester, the university confirmed.
In terms of his voting record, Robinson is registered as an unaffiliated voter and did not vote in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
A family member told investigators, however, that he “had become more political in recent years,” according to Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Friday. The family member also told authorities that during a recent family dinner that he brought up what would become Kirk's fateful upcoming event in Utah.
“They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had,” Cox said. “The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” said Cox.
Testimonies and evidence
The bolt-action rifle left near the campus where Kirk was shot, had various phrases engraved on the bullet casings, including “Hey, fascist, catch!”, as well as “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,” a lyric from a famous Italian anti-fascist song. Some also appeared to borrow from online memes, reading “If you are reading this, you are gay LMAO”.
Prior to his arrest, a family member reached out to a family friend who then called the authorities, informing them that Robinson had “confessed or implied that he had committed the incident”. He was then taken into custody 33 hours after the murder, at 10pm local time on Thursday night.
The investigators also spoke to a roommate of Robinson's, who showed them a group chat app with messages "stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush," engraving bullets, "having left the rifle wrapped in a towel" and "a mention of a scope and the rifle being unique," according to the Utah governor.
Discord, the group chat app in question, has denied the messages were hosted on its platform and claimed they were instead part of a subsequent chat between Robinson's rommate and a friend who were discussing a note the suspect had left elsewhere.
Meanwhile, surveillance videos showed the suspect arriving on campus Wednesday morning in a Dodge Challenger, investigators said. He was seen in a plain maroon T-shirt, light-coloured shorts, a black hat with a white logo and light-coloured shoes. When encountered by investigators, the suspect was wearing clothes “consistent” with those seen on video, Cox said.
Shortly after the announcement of his arrest, photos and videos from his family’s social media profiles started to appear. His mother’s profile was flooded with threatening messages before she deactivated her account.
Taylor Robinson is now in custody in Utah County jail. He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a weapon causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice.
All of the above are state felony charges, while aggravated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty.