Accused in Charlie Kirk's killing hid note about his plan and later confessed in texts, prosecutor says

mormon state to follow up on dying penalty for Charlie Kirk's alleged slayer | Hanomansing Tonight

Prosecutors brought a murder charge Tuesday against the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk and outlined evidence against him, 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 Robinson, 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 U.S.
President Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024.

"I do not take this decision lightly and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney," Gray said Tuesday, announcing his intent to seek capital punishment.

Kirk, 31, was shot dead on Wednesday as he spoke with students on campus in Orem, about 64 kilometres south of Salt Lake City. Prosecutors allege Robinson shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby building.

A Utah Valley University police officer was watching the campus crowd from an "elevated position" and identified the roof of the Losee Center as a potential position for a shooter, Gray said. The officer found evidence on the roof immediately, he said, and spurred officers to direct their attention to surveillance video leading to the roof.

Documents said Robinson discarded the rifle and clothing and asked his roommate, with whom he also had a romantic relationship, to conceal evidence. Robinson left a note under a keyboard saying he planned to kill Kirk and confessed after the shooting, the documents show.

Utah prosecutor outlines charges in Charlie Kirk killing

Robinson also 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. Gray said Robinson is being held in county jail without bail. 

The accused appeared briefly Tuesday before a judge by video. He nodded slightly at times but mostly stared straight ahead as the judge read the charges against him and said he would appoint an attorney to represent him.

Robinson appears to have stayed in the area after shooting Kirk and ditching his rifle, authorities said.

In a text exchange with his roommate released by authorities, Robinson 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." And 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."

The texts shared in court documents do not have timestamps, and it's unclear how long after the shooting Robinson was texting.

In the texts, the person listed as "roommate" asked Robinson why he did it. He responded: "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out."

Robinson also showed signs he believed he would get away with the killing, texting that he had "hoped to keep this secret till [sic] I died of old age" and that it wouldn't "be long" until he was back home.

Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a confidant of U.S. President Donald Trump after co-founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA in 2012, one of the nation's largest political organizations. He brought young conservative evangelical Christians into politics. His killing has raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarized United States.

Robinson was arrested late Thursday near St. George, the southern Utah community where he grew up.

Investigators have spoken to Robinson's relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family's home in Washington, Utah, about 390 kilometres southwest of where the shooting happened.

While authorities say Robinson hasn't been cooperating with investigators, they say his family and friends have been talking. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said over the weekend that those who know Robinson say his politics shifted left in recent years and he spent a lot of time in the "dark corners of the internet."

FBI Director Kash Patel said agents were looking at "anyone and everyone" who was involved in a gaming chatroom on the social media platform Discord with Robinson. The chatroom involved "a lot more" than 20 people, Patel said Tuesday 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.

Prosecutors at Tuesday's press conference, however, did not provide evidence around "dark corners of the internet," saying instead that Robinson's parents described him as moving left politically and "becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented."

Cox said Robinson's romantic partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his anti-transgender views. But authorities have not said whether that played a role. Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings, gun violence and transgender people.

Utah governor says suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting became ‘radicalized’

Gray declined to answer a question about whether transgender issues played a role in the motive behind Kirk's shooting. He pointed to the charging documents, saying they summed up those points.

The charges 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.

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 dishonoured him, causing both public and private workers to lose their jobs or face other consequences at work.

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