The man suspected of fatally shooting American conservative activist Charlie Kirk has finally been taken into custody following a two-day federal manhunt, authorities confirmed on Friday.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox named Tyler Robinson, 22, as the suspected attacker at a news conference on Friday, after United States President Donald Trump himself announced that a suspect had been arrested. “We got him,” Cox said.
He added that a family member of Robinson’s had reached out to a friend who contacted the authorities, and that friends and family members of Robinson, who had been interviewed by investigators, had described him as “full of hate” when discussing Charlie Kirk at a recent social gathering.
Here is what we know so far:
Who is Tyler Robinson?
Utah Governor Cox has thanked the family of Robinson for doing “the right thing” and prompting the 22-year-old to surrender himself to police.
Robinson’s listed address is his parents’ six-bedroom home in a suburb outside the city of St George in southern Utah, about 3.5 hours from Utah Valley University.
Utah state records show Robinson is registered to vote, but he is not affiliated with a political party, and he didn’t vote in the two most recent general elections.
Robinson’s parents, who have been married for about 25 years, own a granite countertop business and are registered Republicans. He has two younger brothers.
Robinson became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, at a “young age”, according to a church spokesperson.
Robinson was an honour roll student in high school who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardised tests. He was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, but he only attended for one semester.
He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship programme at Dixie Technical College in St George.
Records do not show any prior criminal cases involving Robinson, but his family said he had recently become “more political” and even raised his dislike of Kirk in discussion.
Family members recounted a dinner table conversation during which he mentioned Kirk’s upcoming visit to Utah, prompting a discussion as to whether the conservative activist was spreading hate.
Governor Cox said ammunition found at the scene had engravings referencing meme culture and anti-fascism.
Who was Charlie Kirk, and what happened to him?
A conservative media personality and staunch Trump ally, Kirk, 31, helped to revitalise the Republican youth vote and return US President Donald Trump to the White House in last year’s presidential election.
He was fatally shot in the neck in front of a crowd of 3,000 people on Wednesday as he spoke at an event at Utah Valley University. He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.
Kirk’s shooting led to tributes pouring in from Trump, former US presidents and world leaders.
How was the suspected attacker caught?
Governor Cox told a news conference on Friday: “On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson contacted a family friend, who then informed the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that Robinson had either confessed to or implied that he had committed the incident.
“This information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and investigators at Utah Valley University and conveyed to the FBI.”
He explained that investigators had reviewed additional video footage, from the surveillance footage already released, and identified Robinson arriving on campus in a Dodge Challenger on the morning of September 10. Family members interviewed by investigators confirmed that Robinson drove such a vehicle.
Cox added: “Investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years.”
The news of Robinson’s arrest came after a federal manhunt during which investigators interviewed more than 200 people and received about 11,000 tips from the public.
Police and federal investigators also asked the public to help identify the suspect, releasing photographs and video footage showing a “person of interest”.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety released several photographs of a white man wearing Converse trainers, jeans, a long-sleeved black T-shirt with a US flag and eagle on it, and a black baseball cap with a triangle.
What evidence has been gathered?
Surveillance footage released at a news conference on Thursday showed the man fleeing across a university rooftop about 120 metres (400ft) from where Kirk was speaking, before dropping down to the ground and running along the edge of the campus car park, across the road and into nearby woods, leaving behind palm and shoe prints which were being analysed.
Investigators said they had recovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark-coloured towel in the nearby woodland, which they believe was used in the shooting.
FBI special agent Robert Bohls described the weapon as “a high-powered, bolt-action rifle”. According to US media outlets citing sources, it is an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle.
Unlike semiautomatic guns, bolt-action rifles have a slower rate of fire but are valued for their precision. Bohls said the weapon is currently undergoing analysis at an FBI laboratory for possible evidence.
Governor Cox said cryptic messages were engraved on shell casings recovered with the rifle, which he read out phonetically. Their meaning is not immediately clear.
One spent shell case read: “Notices, bulges OWO what’s this?”
Cox said three unfired shell cases read: “Hey fascist! Catch! Up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols”, “Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao” and “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO.”
Cox said investigators had identified Robinson’s roommate, who, he said, had shared several messages from Robinson on Discord. These described needing to pick up a rifle that had a scope mounted on it from a “drop point” and that it had been wrapped in a towel and left in a bush. The messages also discussed engraving shell casings.
Joan Donovan, an assistant professor at Boston University, told The Los Angeles Times that the use of internet memes echoed the manifestos of mass shooters in the US and elsewhere.
Donovan, an expert on extremism, said these inside messages and jokes were how groups communicate.
Memes are remixed “to make them mean something to the inside group that they don’t mean to the rest of the world”, she said.
What has Trump said about the arrest?
Before the announcement from Governor Cox and the FBI on Friday morning local time, Trump told the Fox News programme, Fox & Friends, that Kirk’s attacker was finally in custody.
“I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump told the programme, adding that someone “very close to him turned him in”.
He also said the attacker had been apprehended “five minutes before I walked in” to the TV interview.
Trump said he hoped Kirk’s attacker would receive the death penalty and praised Kirk, expressing sadness over his death.
He described Kirk as the “finest person” who “didn’t deserve this”.
Trump also called Kirk “brilliant” and said he was “like a son” who helped him with TikTok.
“I’ve never seen young people go to one person like they did to Charlie,” Trump said.
What happens next?
Robinson is being held at the Utah County jail, with initial charges including aggravated murder, according to local news reports.
Governor Cox has pledged to pursue the death penalty when the suspect is tried. Trump echoed this in his own comments.
Authorities in Utah have three days to bring formal charges against Robinson, which will likely include murder and gun offences.
The suspect would then appear in court for arraignment. If he pleads not guilty, a trial will likely follow. Alternatively, he could plead guilty in exchange for a lesser penalty.
Given the gravity of the case, Robinson is not likely to be granted temporary release pending trial. He could also face federal charges.
How have other conservatives responded?
Cox said Kirk’s killing represents a “watershed in American history”.
“The question is: What kind of watershed? And that chapter remains to be written. Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history, or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history?”
Cox called on people to turn off social media, “touch grass” and engage with fellow members of their communities. “This is our moment. Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp? It’s a choice,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kirk’s killing has unleashed a wave of anger among conservatives in the US.
Some Trump supporters blamed the political left and claimed Kirk’s murder was the culmination of years of hostility towards Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
“They couldn’t beat him in a debate, so they assassinated him,” Isabella Maria DeLuca, a conservative activist and January 6 rioter who has been pardoned by Trump, wrote on X.
Mike Davis, a Republican lawyer and prominent Trump supporter, said Kirk’s ability to galvanise a new generation of conservatives posed “an existential threat to the future of leftist ideology and power”.
