With the funeral of US Conservative activist Charlie Kirk taking place today, the prime suspect in his assassination remains in custody after a manhunt lasting some 33 hours.
Kirk, 31, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was killed by a single gunshot fired from a rooftop as he spoke onstage during an outdoor campus event attended by 3,000 people in Utah on September 10.
Tyler James Robinson, 22, has been charged with offences including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice over the shooting.
If convicted of killing Kirk, the charge means he could face the death penalty.
Robinson is reported to have raised suspicions while speaking with relatives, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said.
Mr Cox called Kirk’s murder a ‘watershed in American history’ and comparing it to the rash of US political assassinations of the 1960s.
Utah County attorney Jeff Gray said Robinson’s DNA was found on the trigger of the rifle, alleging Robinson discarded the rifle and clothing and asked his roommate to conceal evidence.
Robinson left a note under a keyboard saying he planned to kill Kirk and confessed after the shooting, documents allege.
Gray said Robinson’s romantic partner, who was reportedly trans, sent the suspect several messages on the day of the shooting.
‘Drop what you’re doing. Look under my keyboard,’ Robinson said in one text. Under it, the partner found a note that said: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.’
Robinson’s next hearing has been scheduled for September 29 at 10am, and will be held using WebEx.
Who is Tyler Robinson?
Mr Cox told reporters the suspect had lived for a long time with his family in Washington County in the southwest corner of Utah, near the Arizona and Nevada borders.
Robinson did not appear to have any criminal history, according to state records.
He was a registered voter but was not affiliated with a political party, according to voter records.
He is listed as an ‘inactive’ voter, which indicates he did not cast a ballot in last year’s presidential election, when Republican Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.
At the time of the shooting, he was a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College, part of Utah’s public university system.
An honour roll student in high school who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardised tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter posted to a family member’s social media account.
He attended for only one semester, according to a university spokesperson. He’s now enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St George.
A neighbour, Steven Green, said he knew the family from attending the same Mormon church down the street.
‘Great family, good kids,’ he said, though he added he did not know Tyler Robinson well.
Canaan Timothy, 21, said he was in the year below Robinson at high school. Robinson, he said, was just a regular student with an interest in music, who hung out with members of the school band.
‘I knew him in passing. Just your average kid,’ said Timothy, who lives two blocks from the Robinson family.
‘Tyler, he was quiet, but not too quiet.’
Who are his parents?
Robinson has two younger brothers, and his parents Amber Jones Robinson and Matt Robinson have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts.
His parents are registered to vote as Republicans but none of their social media posts appeared overtly political.
Posts by Robinson’s mother reflect an active family with vacations to Disneyland, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska.
They frequently spent time outdoors — boating, fishing, riding ATVs, zip-lining and target shooting. A 2017 post shows the family visiting a military facility and posing with assault rifles.
A young Robinson is shown smiling as he grips the handles of a 50-caliber heavy machine gun.
Robert Sylvester has lived on the same tree-lined street as the Robinson family for about six years and described the family as ‘pretty quiet’, adding that the suspect’s father keeps busy as a contractor.
‘They’re not unlike most families,’ he said.
What do we know about Robinson’s alleged motive?
Investigators are still working to understand what allegedly led Robinson to that rooftop.
Officials have not yet identified a precise motive for the shooting, though they offered some clues in announcing his arrest the day after the shooting.
Mr Cox told reporters that a family member interviewed by law enforcement said Robinson had recently mentioned Kirk’s scheduled appearance at Utah Valley University, where he was shot.
‘They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints he had,’ Cox said, without offering further details.
Robinson had also become more political in recent years, the family member told investigators, and authorities said he had engraved what appeared to be anti-fascist messages on bullet casings they found with the suspected murder weapon.
What rifle did the gunman use and what did the bullet casings say?
The governor declined to discuss possible motives for the killing.
But in describing inscriptions investigators found on ammunition recovered from the scene, Mr Cox said one of the casings bore the message: ‘Here fascist! CATCH,’ adding in response to reporters’ questions: ‘I think that speaks for itself.’
Another was reportedly etched with the message: ‘Bella ciao’ – the title of a Second World War Italian anti-fascist song.
A third allegedly read: ‘If you read this, you are gay LMAO.’
In addition, a roommate shared with authorities messages from the chatting app Discord that involved a contact named Tyler and discussed a rifle wrapped in a towel, engraved bullets and a scope, the governor said.
A Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle was found in a towel in a wooded area along the path investigators believe Robinson took after firing a single shot from a distant roof and then fleeing.
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