The suspect had marked the bullets with hateful messages
US authorities have identified Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who had previously expressed political dislike for the ultra-conservative activist and who was finally arrested thanks to his own family, who contacted authorities.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox explained in a press conference that on Thursday afternoon, a relative of the suspect spoke with a family friend, who in turn contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. “Robinson had confessed to them that he had carried out the attack,” he stated, acknowledging that his own family “did the right thing.”
Security sources cited by CNN indicate that it was the suspect’s own father who identified his son in the photos released by the FBI and who ultimately contacted a religious pastor to assist him in the surrender.
When law enforcement located the suspect, who was wearing clothing similar to that seen in the publicly released photographs, Cox explained, appearing before the media after President Donald Trump announced the arrest in an interview on Fox News.
Robinson’s entourage admitted to investigators that the young man had become politicized in recent years and had even said that Kirk was going to attend the Orem campus where he ultimately died and that he didn’t like his ideas. In messages with his roommate, he also alluded to the rifle he allegedly used to commit the crime, suggesting, among other things, that he would abandon it in a bush.
The governor also confirmed that Robinson had inscribed the bullets with slogans such as “Hey, fascist, get it!”, an excerpt from the anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao,” and “If you’re reading this, you’re gay.”
