Suspected Kirk Assassin Makes Statement To Police After Arrest
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of killing Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, has “lawyered up” and is no longer talking with investigators, according to a new report.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Robinson had initially been speaking with law enforcement but has since gone silent, Newsmax reported.
It was not made clear what Robinson said before he stopped talking. He is currently being held without bail at the Utah County Jail.
He is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice, according to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by NBC News.
Court records show Robinson has no prior misdemeanor or felony convictions.
Kirk, 31, was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said during a press conference that officials have three days to formally charge Robinson and that authorities believe he acted alone.
Cox also said Friday that Robinson made disparaging comments about Kirk during a family dinner days before the shooting.
“Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years,” Cox said.
“The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner … and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to [Utah Valley University].”
“They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”
President Donald Trump said that whoever is convicted of killing Kirk should face the death penalty, which Utah allows for aggravated murder.
Robinson was arrested Thursday night after his father recognized him from FBI-released images, multiple outlets reported.
His father urged him to surrender, but Robinson initially said he would rather kill himself, according to the Daily Mail.
He was persuaded to turn himself in after speaking with a local youth minister who also works with the U.S. Marshals Service.
Cox said Robinson’s roommate directed investigators to Discord, where Robinson allegedly posted about a rifle he had stashed.
The roommate allowed investigators to take photos of messages describing a rifle hidden in a bush, engraved bullets, adding a scope, and changing outfits.
Law enforcement later recovered a Mauser Model 98, .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle with a mounted scope wrapped in a towel from a wooded area near the university campus in Orem.
During the event, Hunter Kozak, a math major at the college who has his own YouTube channel, asked Kirk about transgender mass shooters. A gunshot rang out as Kirk answered, hitting him in the neck and killing him.
Kozak later discussed the event on social media and the reaction he was witnessing online in a video posted to X late Thursday.
“First off, you sick f*cking psychos that think this is the answer, I don’t know what else to say. It’s f*cking not. It’s awful and a father doesn’t have his kids anymore,” Kozak began.
He continued: “Charlie had two kids and a wife. And, like, not to make this about me, but I have two kids and a wife and if my 1-year-old boy, like his 1-year-old will grow up without memories of his dad, it’s a tragedy and it’s hard to grapple with.”
Speaking about the debate he was having with Kirk at the time, Kozak said “the point” he “was trying to make is how peaceful the left was, right before he got shot.”
“That only makes sense if we stay peaceful,” he continued.
“As much as I disagree with Charlie Kirk, I’m on the record for how much I disagree with Charlie Kirk, but like, man, dude, he is still a human being. Have we forgotten that? Are we crazy? Like, I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was conversation,” he asked.
