THE man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk could face the death penalty after being charged with aggravated murder.
The charges against Tyler Robinson were released on Tuesday.
Announcing the charges, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said: “The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy.”
Kirk was shot on September 10 as he spoke with students at a university in Utah and died soon after.
Prosecutors allege Robinson shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby campus building.
Robinson, 22, was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm, which is punishable by up to life in prison, and obstructing justice, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
He was scheduled to appear on camera for a virtual court hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
It was unclear whether Robinson had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf, and his family has declined to comment.
Robinson was arrested late on Thursday near St George, the southern Utah community where he grew up.
Investigators have spoken to his relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 240 miles south west of where the shooting happened.
Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding one of the nation’s largest right-wing political organisations, Turning Point USA.
His shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarised United States.
While authorities say Robinson has not been cooperating with investigators, they say his family and friends have been talking.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said that those who know Robinson say his politics shifted left in recent years, and he spent a lot of time in the “dark corners of the internet”.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News that DNA evidence has linked Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found near the Utah Valley campus and a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired.
Before the shooting, Robinson wrote in a note that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it, according to Patel.
The FBI is also looking at “anyone and everyone” who was involved in a gaming chatroom on the social media platform Discord with Robinson, Patel told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington.
The chatroom involved “a lot more” than 20 people, he said.
“We are investigating Charlie’s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence,” Patel said in response to a question about whether the shooting was being treated as part of a broader trend of violence against religious groups.
Investigators are working on finding a motive for the attack, Utah’s governor said on Sunday, adding that more information may come out once Robinson appears for his initial court hearing.
Cox said Robinson’s romantic partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his anti-transgender views.
But authorities have not said whether that played a role.
Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings, gun violence, and transgender people.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said that Robinson’s partner has been cooperative.
He said investigators believe Robinson acted alone during the shooting, but they are also looking at whether anyone knew of his plans beforehand.
