Tyler Robinson Formally Charged, Plus a Text About His Motive

Today, Tyler Robinson was formally charged with aggravated murder in the death of Charlie Kirk. He’s expected to appear in court for the first time (by Zoom) this afternoon but what we have in the meantime is the charging document filed by the state. The charges are as follows.

The Utah County Attorney’s Office filed charges against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of shooting and killing political activist Charlie Kirk.

Robinson, age 22, was charged on Tuesday with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony; two counts of capital obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; two counts of tampering with a witness, a third-degree felony; and violent offense committed in the presence of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

Right up front the document states that Robinson targeted Charlie Kirk over his political opinions. And there’s lots more information about that in the documents which once again pins down that this was a crime motivated by politics. Specifically, Robinson had moved left in his politics and that was known to his family.

“Robinson’s mother expressed concern to her husband that the suspect shooter looked like Robinson,” and Robinson’s father agreed, Gray said.

Robinson’s mother also told investigators that “over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro gay and trans rights oriented,” Gray said.

Robinson’s mother also told police that said her son, “began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders.”

But there’s much more detail than that. Robinson had a text exchange with his boyfriend in which he basically confessed his motive.

Robinson sent a message to his roommate saying “Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard.”

Under the keyboard there was a note from Robinson which said: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.”

The roommate responded by saying: “What? You’re joking.”

This exact exchange is included in the charging document. It goes like this:

Boyfriend: Why?

Robinson: Why did I do it?

Boyfriend: Yeah

Robinson: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence.

A bit later he tells the boyfriend to delete the exchange and also not to talk to the police. He advises him to get a lawyer and remain silent. Those two statements are the grounds for the two witness tampering charges.

If you’re keeping track, I think that’s three confessions after the fact (plus the note saying he planned to take the opportunity) made by Tyler Robinson. He confessed to his father. He confessed in a discord chat to some friends and he confessed to his boyfriend. That’s on top of all the physical evidence tying him to the crime.

The charging documents have now been filed in Utah County court. In them, prosecutors say DNA “consistent with” Tyler Robinson was found on the trigger of the bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

So that’s DNA on the blanket and the trigger which matches with all the texts in which he admits leaving the gun behind and identifies the gun as one given to him by his grandfather.

But I think the big takeaway here is that there’s really no room left for speculation about why this happened. Tyler Robinson had moved left. He was dating a trans person. He targeted Kirk because of his message. Tyler Robinson was not a Groyper. He was not a far right extremist. He was a left-wing assassin.

Update: Here’s the announcement of the charges by County Attorney Jeff Gray.