SALT LAKE CITY — Officials have identified the person accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk as 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed the suspect’s identity at a press conference on Friday morning, standing along FBI Director Kash Patel and other law enforcement officials.
Cox said that a family member of Robinson’s reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.
Investigators then identified Robinson in surveillance from the Utah Valley University — where Kirk was killed on Wednesday — which Cox said showed Robinson arriving to UVU at 8:29 a.m. in a gray Dodge Challenger.
Cox added that when investigators arrested Robinson in the early hours of Friday morning he “was observed in consistent clothing with those surveillance images.”
“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 prior to September 10. And in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU.”
It appears that Robinson’s last voter registration date was on July 13, 2021, and his political party is none declared based on public records.
Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA and an influential voice in the Trump administration, was shot and killed Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University, a public school south of Salt Lake City.
The event was hosted by the school’s chapter of Turning Point USA, a group Kirk founded that organizes and mobilizes young conservatives.
President Donald Trump, who announced Kirk’s death on Wednesday, was again first to share that the suspect in Kirk’s slaying was in custody on Friday morning.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him — in custody … everyone did a great job we worked with the local police, the governor, everybody did a great job,” he said in an interview on Fox News.
Trump suggested that the suspect’s father turned him into authorities.
“Somebody that’s close recognizes even a little tilt of the head, which nobody else would do,” Trump said “And somebody that was very close to him said ‘hm, that’s him’ and essentially went to the father, went to a US Marshal.”
“And the father convinced the son, ‘this is it,'” Trump added.
Trump repeatedly warned throughout the interview that his information was preliminary, saying he is “always subject to be corrected.”
Video released by authorities Thursday captured the person they described as the shooter running across a building’s roof and descending onto a grassy area below. The person can then be seen walking past a parking lot toward a busy road.
Further images released show what appears to be a young, thin man wearing a black long sleeved T-shirt with an American flag on it, black sunglasses, an Adidas hat, jeans and converse sneakers
The FBI was analyzing a weapon described as high-powered bolt-action rifle that was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter is believed to have fled, according to the public safety department. Investigators were also examining trace evidence collected from the rooftop — a palm print, a forearm imprint and a shoe impression, the FBI said.
Kirk’s killing has prompted national outrage in recent years. political violence that has become more common in the United States in recent years.
Turning Point USA has not publicly commented on the arrest or the identification of the suspect.
In a statement on Thursday, Turning Point USA said Kirk had faced “thousands” of threats throughout his life but “always prioritized reaching as many young Americans as possible over his own personal safety.”
“All of us will miss Charlie,” the group said. “None of us will ever forget him.”
By NBC News
