The gunman accused of murdering Charlie Kirk joked about looking like the suspect while on the run from authorities, messages reveal.
Tyler Robinson, 22, told an online chatroom his “doppelganger” killed the conservative activist, 31, with a rifle at Utah Valley University last week.
Moments before, an online acquaintance of Robinson tagged his username on Discord, suggesting that he looked like the suspect.
According to The New York Times, Robinson responded by claiming a lookalike was “trying to get me in trouble”.
His messages appeared next to his avatar, which depicted the face of Jon Arbuckle, the fictional owner of the cartoon cat Garfield.
The exchange took place at 1pm on Thursday, the day after Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking to a crowd of 3,000 college students.
Later that day, Robinson was arrested on suspicion of assassinating the father-of-two.
However, Utah governor Spencer Cox claims Robinson is not cooperating with authorities, with investigators instead turning to his friends and family to piece together the motivation for the shooting.
Another Discord user suggested that the group could turn Robinson in and receive the $100,000 (£74,000) FBI reward for his capture.
“Only if I get a cut,” Mr Robinson responded. Another user posted: “Whatever you do, don’t go to a McDonald’s anytime soon.”
This is thought to be a reference to the arrest of Luigi Mangione in one of the fast food chain’s restaurants after he allegedly killed UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson in New York last year.
Robinson made a joke of his own, writing: “Better also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around.”
News outlets reported that ammunition found with a gun close to the scene included engravings referring to “transgender ideology”, although this has since been denied by authorities.
However, bullets reportedly included the phrases “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “If you're reading this, you're gay LMAO (Laughing my ass off).”
“I heard the ammo had something about trans stuff on it, but they aren’t releasing photos or exact quotes,” Robinson, who was in a relationship with a transgender roommate, wrote.
Minutes later, Robinson joked: “I’m actually Charlie Kirk, wanted to get out of politics so I faked my death, now I can live out my dream life in Kansas.”
Mr Trump said he was "filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination", calling it a "dark moment for America".
