Charlie Kirk's alleged shooter not cooperating with investigators, says Utah governor

Charlie Kirk's alleged shooter is "not cooperating" with the investigators and has not confessed to the assassination of the notable US conservative influencer in Utah last week, Governor Spencer Cox said on Sunday.

The authorities were still piecing together information about the 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, and were not ready to discuss a motive at this time, Cox said. However, he noted that Robinson disliked Kirk and may have been "radicalised" online.

According to Cox, his family and friends who are cooperating with the investigation, said Robinson became more political in recent years and has spent large amounts of time scrolling the “dark corners of the internet.”

Cox said that the investigation so far showed Robinson was left-leaning. “There clearly was a leftist ideology,” Cox said for US TV channel NBC citing interviews with Robinson’s relatives and acquaintances.

“Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”

He pointed to references found engraved on the ammunition used to kill Kirk, which included anti-fascist and meme-culture language. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”.

Some have disputed that Robinson was left-wing, claiming that he hails from a conservative Utah background and could have instead possibly been a part of the Groyper movement, an extreme online faction of "involuntarily celibate" people or incels, who share alt-right, antisemitic and Christian nationalist beliefs led by activist Nick Fuentes.

Fuentes, who, with Kirk, is part of a key group of young conservative influencers supportive of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, distanced himself from the claims Robinson was a Groyper, calling them "pure evil".

"My followers and I are currently being framed for the murder of Charlie Kirk by the mainstream media based on literally zero evidence," he said on a post on X.

The governor said more information may come out once Robinson appears in court Tuesday.

Another claim has emerged that the suspect's partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign Robinson was targeting Kirk for his anti-transgender views.

However, the authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive, and media reports have been inconclusive as to whether this person was Robinson's partner or one of his roommates.

“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that ... this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”

A Republican who has called on all partisans to tone down their rhetoric following the attack, Cox said, “I really don’t have a dog in this fight."

"If this was a radicalised MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well," he ephasised.

Prestigious scholarship abandoned?

Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 390 kilometres southwest of Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot last Wednesday.

State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.

Robinson grew up around St George, in the southwestern corner of Utah, between Las Vegas and natural landmarks including Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

He became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.

Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that travelled widely. In one photo, a young Robinson can be seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-calibre heavy machine gun outside a military facility.

A high school honours student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardised tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.

But he attended for only one semester, according to the university. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St George.