What we know of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

SALT LAKE CITY — On Friday morning, Utah and federal officials announced that after a 33-hour manhunt for the person of interest in Charlie Kirk’s murder, they arrested the alleged shooter.

Tyler James Robinson, 22, of Washington County, was booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice, according to the police affidavit.

After Robinson’s arrest was announced, rumors of Robinson’s political ideologies and his family background circulated on social media.

One untrue rumor was that Robinson’s father was a longtime sheriff’s deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, but the office released a statement clarifying that is not the case.

The sheriff’s office said that a retired deputy who shares a similar name with Robinson’s father is not “connected or related” to the 22-year-old.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office also released a statement saying that Robinson is not related to anyone in its office.

According to local officials and public records, Robinson was registered to be living with his family in Washington City. KSL is investigating claims that Robinson was also living in a townhome in St. George, Utah, after federal and local authorities were spotted searching one Friday morning.

A neighbor who lived near Robinson’s family home described him as someone with a mild personality who always kept to himself.

“I’m sure most people in the neighborhood (are) shocked because most people have lived here forever and know him as the kid I did,” Kristen Schwerman told KSL TV in an interview. “He was always very quiet, he was very smart, he had just a real mellow personality, never caused any problems.”

The Utah Board of Higher Education reported that Robinson was a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George. Robinson also attended Utah State University for one semester in 2021 and received a presidential scholarship from the university.

Online court records showed that Robinson had no adult criminal history prior to his September arrest. Utah courts confirmed to KSL that Robinson had no juvenile history either.

According to the state voting records, Robinson was registered as an unaffiliated voter, but his status was inactive, meaning he hadn’t voted in two regular general elections.

Voting records show that Robinson’s parents are active voters and registered republicans.

According to the police affidavit, one of Robinson’s family members told police that Robinson “became more political in recent years,” referencing a family dinner where he mentioned that Kirk was visiting Utah Valley University in Orem, nearly 230 miles away from Washington City.

In the conversation between Robinson and another family member, “they talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” the police affidavit stated.

Investigators also interviewed Robinson’s roommate, who told police that Robinson used the instant messaging social platform, Discord, and sent several messages and photos to him.

According to the police affidavit, these messages from Robinson stated that he had “a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.”

Discord confirmed with KSL that Robinson had an account that’s since been terminated, but disputed the claims made by officials.

“The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages,” Discord said in a statement. “These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.”

KSL has reached out to the Utah Attorney General’s Office regarding Discord’s statement, as the office filed the affidavit.

In Friday morning’s press conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the rifle was a Mauser model 98, .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle with a scope.

Both police and Cox confirmed investigators found inscriptions on the bullet casings that were with the rifle, which was found in a wooded area near UVU.

According to police, the inscriptions on the fired casing read “Notices Buldge OWO what’s this?” while the three unfired casings read:

• “hey fascist! CATCH! (up arrow symbol, right arrow
  symbol, and three down arrow symbols)”.
• “If you read This, you are GAY Lmao”.
• “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!”

Each of these descriptions appeared to reference Internet memes and gaming culture, besides “O Bella ciao,” which are lyrics from “Bella ciao,” an Italian anti-fascism song written in the 1940s.

However, neither federal nor local officials could clarify what these meant during Friday’s press conference.

“Well, I will leave that up to you to interpret what those engravings mean,” Cox said to reporters. “I think the clearest one that says catch fascist … That’s, I think that that speaks for itself.”