Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old in custody as the suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, registered to vote with no party affiliation and hadn’t cast a ballot in the two most recent elections.
But a family member told investigators that Robinson “had become more political in recent years,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox said at a press conference Friday morning – and in particular had lashed out at Kirk, the family member said.
Authorities, who have described Kirk’s killing as a “political assassination,” discovered anti-fascist messages engraved on ammunition with a rifle near the site of the shooting that hint at that political transformation, Cox said.
Those messages included one that said, “Hey fascist! Catch!” and another that appeared to reference an Italian anti-fascist song.
Robinson grew up in Washington, Utah, and earned a scholarship to attend Utah State University after a strong academic record in high school, but dropped out after just one semester, according to public records, social media and a university statement.
Voter registration records show that Robinson is registered to vote unaffiliated with any party, although he is also listed as an “inactive” voter, meaning he hadn’t voted in at least the most recent two general elections.
Social media photos show Robinson wearing grey Converse shoes and sunglasses that appear similar to those worn by the shooting suspect in photos released by law enforcement earlier this week.
Cox said at the press conference that a family member of Robinson had reached out to a family friend Thursday night, and the family friend told the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that “Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”
Robinson was taken into custody around 10 p.m. Thursday night, after a 33-hour manhunt, FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday.
Robinson’s hometown is a quiet suburb of St. George, a city in the southwest corner of the state. It’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Utah Valley University, where Kirk was gunned down on Wednesday afternoon while holding a campus event.
Cox said that a family member of Robinson had told investigators that at a recent family dinner, Robinson had mentioned Kirk’s upcoming Utah Valley event, and “they talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had,” Cox said. “The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.”
The bolt-action rifle Robinson used and left in a wooded area near the campus had various phrases engraved on the bullet casings, Cox said, including “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao ciao,” which appeared to reference an Italian anti-fascist song.
Other engravings hinted more at connections to online trolling and memes, including one that said, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
Robinson had a resident presidential scholarship to Utah State University, according to a Facebook video his mother posted in 2021 of him reading a letter about the award.
A spokesperson for the university said in statement Friday that Robinson “briefly attended Utah State University for one semester in 2021.”
Kirk’s American Comeback Tour had an event scheduled at Utah State University on September 30.
