Utah prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, who is accused of killing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy,” Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said.
Robinson faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Prosecutors say he instructed his roommate to delete incriminating text messages and not to talk to police.
After the Sept. 10 shooting, Robinson’s mother saw a photo of a person of interest and called her son, who claimed he was home sick. When she showed the image to Robinson’s father, he agreed the person resembled their son and noted that a rifle in the photo looked like one Robinson had been given as a gift. Investigators later said Robinson expressed concern about leaving behind that rifle, which once belonged to his grandfather, and court documents confirmed his DNA matched the murder weapon.
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Robinson later told his parents he planned to take his own life, prosecutors said. However, they convinced him to go to their house, where prosecutors say he implied he was the shooter. His parents and a family friend eventually persuaded him to turn himself in.
Police later interviewed Robinson’s roommate, with whom he was reportedly in a relationship. The roommate is a biological male transitioning to female. Robinson’s parents told investigators their son had recently become outspoken in support of gay and transgender rights.
According to police, Robinson sent messages to the roommate following the shooting. One of them instructed the roommate to “drop what you’re doing and look under my keyboard.” There, the roommate discovered a note that said: “I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
The roommate appeared to be in disbelief and asked how long Robinson had been planning the attack. Prosecutors said Robinson responded that he had been planning it for about a week because he had “enough of Charlie Kirk’s hatred.”
Kirk was an outspoken conservative Christian commentator who traveled the country debating college students on issues including transgender rights and religious liberty. He was frequently criticized by LGBTQ advocates for spreading anti-transgender rhetoric.
