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Utah state authorities have charged Tyler Robinson, the suspected shooter in the killing of Charlie Kirk, with aggravated murder.
Jeff Gray, Utah county attorney, on Tuesday said Kirk’s killing during a public debate at a university campus last week was an “American tragedy” and he would seek the death penalty.
“Charlie Kirk was murdered while engaging in one of our most sacred and cherished American rights, the bedrock of our democratic republic, the free exchange of ideas in a search for truth, understanding and a more perfect union,” he said.
Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder as well as discharging a firearm causing serious bodily injury and faces charges including obstruction of justice for allegedly concealing his rifle and disposing of his clothing.
He was also charged with witness tampering for allegedly asking his roommate to delete incriminating messages and to stay silent if questioned by police.
Robinson will be held without bail at a Utah county jail and is set to make his first court appearance later on Tuesday.
Speculation has swirled around the motivation for the killing of Kirk, a conservative activist and Maga influencer, with many of his supporters blaming the “radical left” for his murder.
It comes amid fears of increased violence as political divisions widen in the US. Two attempts to assassinate President Donald Trump occurred during the 2024 presidential campaign. Earlier this year Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband were shot dead at their home.
Gray said police in Utah had interviewed Robinson’s roommate, to whom the suspect had allegedly left a note saying: “I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
In a text exchange with the roommate, Robinson allegedly said he had shot Kirk because “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Gray said Robinson’s mother told police her son had “become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented”. But the prosecutor declined to comment on Robinson’s motivation for the alleged murder, saying only that it was based on “Charlie Kirk’s political expression”.
The charges against Robinson came hours after FBI director Kash Patel defended his handling of the Kirk investigation in front of the Senate judiciary committee.
In often-heated exchanges Democratic senators criticised conflicting social media posts in which Patel claimed the shooter had been caught and then announced the person had been released.
Dick Durbin, the most senior Democrat on the panel, said: “Mr Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr Kirk’s assassin that he violated one of the basics of effective law enforcement: in critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let the professionals do their job.”
The FBI director defended the bureau’s handling of the investigation and conceded he could have been more “careful” in his “verbiage”, but added the posts were not a mistake.
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