Charlie Kirk shooting suspect charged with murder as prosecutors announce they will seek death penalty
CNN
By Chris Boyette, Aditi Sangal, Michelle Watson, Tori B. Powell, Maureen Chowdhury
PROVO, UTAH — Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has been formally charged with aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced the charges at a press conference Tuesday.
Gray said he intends to seek the death penalty.
Robinson, 22, is scheduled to appear Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET for a virtual court hearing. It will be his first court appearance since his arrest.
He has been held without bail, and it is unclear if he has an attorney.
Gray noted it was the mother of the suspected shooter who identified her son through photos released by authorities.
Court documents allege that Robinson’s mother, “explained 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.”
“She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders,” court documents filed Tuesday say.
“This resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views.”
After Tyler Robinson’s parents became concerned that surveillance images of a suspect that authorities released looked like their son, and that a rifle that police believed was used in Charlie Kirk’s killing “matched a rifle that was given to his son as a gift,” his father called him, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said.
The father contacted his son and asked him to send a picture of the rifle, but Robinson didn’t respond, Gray said. The father subsequently spoke on the phone with his son, who “implied that he planned to take his own life,” Gray said.
Robinson’s parents were then “able to convince him to meet at their home,” Gray said.
While talking to his parents at their home, Robinson implied that he shot Kirk, “and stated that he couldn’t go to jail, and just wanted to end it,” Gray said. When Robinson was then asked why he did it, “Robinson explained there is too much evil, and the guy (referring to Charlie Kirk) spreads too much hate,” Gray said, reading from a probable cause statement filed in court.
The day of the shooting, Robinson texted his roommate to locate a note he had left which said he had the “opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk,” Gray said.
“On September 10, 2025, the roommate received a text message from Robinson, which said, ‘Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard.’ The roommate looked under the key board and found a note that stated, ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.’ Police found a photograph of this note,” Gray said.
According to Gray, after reading the text from Robinson, the roommate had responded, “What? You’re joking, right?”
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