Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin tried and failed to cover his tracks in the hours after the fatal shooting, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Tyler Robinson, 22, faces six felony charges, including aggravated murder and obstruction of justice, in the killing of the 31-year-old conservative icon.
The timeline that Utah County prosecutors outlined in their Tuesday afternoon press conference and accompanying charging documents deepens the narrative authorities had sketched out during the manhunt, with new details revealing the lengths to which Robinson went to try to conceal his alleged crime.
Neighborhood security cameras caught Robinson hobbling down a residential street at 11:49 a.m. last Wednesday near Utah Valley University, the site of one of Kirk’s raucous “America’s Comeback” events. Those cameras caught Robinson walking bow-legged, which prosecutors said was “consistent with a rifle being hidden in his pants.”
Per prosecutors, Robinson arrived on campus at 11:51 a.m. and made his way to the rooftop of a building about 150 yards away from where Kirk was speaking.
The roof where Robinson allegedly set up is a few feet below an open walkway. Prosecutors said that surveillance footage showed Robinson dropping down from the walkway onto the rooftop at 12:15 pm and scurrying to his chosen spot.
A single shot rang out at approximately 12:23 pm Mountain Time. Kirk had been answering a question about transgender people committing mass shootings when he suddenly jerked back in his seat and reached for his neck.
Surveillance footage released by authorities shows Robinson running across the rooftop at 12:23 and jumping off a roof. Prosecutors said on Tuesday that he was carrying an item that appeared to be a rifle, dropped the item before jumping, and then retrieved it as he ran away from the scene.
Robinson was on the run, and the manhunt was about to begin.
The weapon that Robinson allegedly used was found later in the day on Wednesday, wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the university. Prosecutors said on Tuesday that they have since found Robinson’s DNA on the trigger, the towel, and on other parts of the rifle.
What investigators didn’t know at the time the rifle was found was that Robinson had allegedly planned to collect the rifle from that “drop site” in the woods. However, he was spooked when the area was locked down by authorities.
That snag led Robinson to message his roommate and romantic partner, who prosecutors referred to as “a biological male who was transitioning genders.”
“Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard,” Robinson messaged the roommate.
When the roommate did so, they found a note that said the following: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
As the roommate reacted in shock and tried to confirm that what Robinson was messaging was true, Robinson allegedly detailed his motives for the shooting and expressed regret that he couldn’t circle back to grab his rifle.
“I had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors claim that Robinson wrote. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
“I’m wishing I had circled back and grabbed it,” Robinson allegedly wrote about the gun. “How the f–k will I explain losing it to my old man…”
In the end, the firearm—which Robinson’s messages suggested was gifted to him by his grandfather—became one of the signals that tipped off his family members to his involvement in Kirk’s death.
However, before his family or authorities closed in on him, Robinson spent time last Wednesday on his preferred messaging platform, Discord, discussing the search that would ultimately lead to his arrest.
Messages obtained by the New York Times seem to show Robinson joking about the shooting after it happened, saying that his “doppelganger” was trying to “get [him] in trouble.”
“I’m actually Charlie Kirk, wanted to get outta politics so I faked my death, now I can live out my dream life in Kansas,” Robinson joked to a message thread including about 20 people—a group that Patel said on Tuesday is now being investigated.
On Thursday, the investigation intensified. The FBI released images of the suspected shooter as well as the surveillance footage of Robinson dropping down from the rooftop.
Prosecutors say that these images catalyzed the sequence of events leading to Robinson’s arrest.
Robinson’s mother, Amber Robinson, saw those pictures and thought that they resembled her son.
When she called Tyler and asked where he was, he told her that he was home sick. He also said that he had there the day before, when Kirk was killed.
Robinson’s father, Mark Robinson, shared his wife’s concern. He also recognized the gun that authorities say they recovered in the woods near the scene of the shooting. When he asked Tyler to send him a photo of the rifle, Tyler did not respond.
At the same time, Tyler Robinson was messaging his roommate.
“Delete this exchange,” he wrote.
“My dad wants photos of the rifle… he says grandpa wants to know who has what, the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique,” Robinson allegedly wrote.
On the phone with his parents, Robinson implied that he was going to commit suicide. However, his parents were able to convince him to meet with them and speak with a family friend, a retired sheriff.
“I’m gonna turn myself in willingly,” Robinson wrote to his roommate. “One of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.”
“You are all I worry about love,” Robinson said, before instructing his roommate not to talk to the media and not to answer any questions from the police.
At that some point before he turned himself in, Robinson also seemed to confess to the crime via Discord in a group thread. It’s unclear if that thread was the same one where he joked about the shooting the day before.
“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all,” Robinson wrote, according to screenshots shared with The Washington Post by one of the group’s members. “It was me at UVU yesterday. I’m sorry for all of this.”
Before leaving to surrender himself to police, Robinson told the family friend that he had discarded the clothes he was wearing during the shooting—leading to one of the two obstruction of justice charges he faces.
Robinson also faces two charges of witness tampering, related to the instructions he sent to his roommate to delete his texts and not to talk to the police.
Around 10:00 pm local time, Robinson turned himself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. He was accompanied by his parents and the family friend who had urged him to turn himself in.
The manhunt was over.
When police searched Robinson’s home, they found more bullet casings etched with messages similar to the ones found near the recovered rifle—which referenced video game and “furry” culture memes.
“Hey fascist, catch!” said one of the unspent bullet casings that authorities recovered.
Robinson’s exact motives have yet to be fully detailed, but prosecutors said in their Tuesday filing that his parents believed he had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented” over the past year.
They also told investigators that Robinson had mentioned Kirk would be holding an event at UVU.