Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Charged as Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty

Utah County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Tyler Robinson in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, a murder officials say was politically motivated. They intend to seek the death penalty.

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced the indictment at a midday news conference, listing charges of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child. Robinson, 22, is also charged with two counts of obstruction and two counts of witness tampering.

“Charlie Kirk was murdered while engaging in one of our most sacred and cherished American rights,” Gray said. “The bedrock of our democratic republic is the free exchange of ideas in a search for truth, understanding, and a more perfect union.”

Gray said that the murder was considered an aggravated offense because it was believed to be motivated by the victim’s political expression. On the matter of the death penalty, he added: “I do not take this decision lightly, and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime.”

Robinson will make his first court appearance at 3 pm MST on Tuesday.

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on September 10 while taking questions from students. The cofounder of Turning Point USA, he was credited with galvanizing young conservatives and playing a pivotal role in Donald Trump’s 2024 White House return.

The shooting sparked chaos on campus, where delayed and contradictory emergency alerts left many students and faculty scrambling in confusion. Vigils for Kirk have since been held in Arizona, New York, and Washington, among other states. Across the US, Kirk’s murder has become both a rallying cry for far-right retribution and fuel for an assault on civil society.

Investigators claim forensic evidence links Robinson to the shooting, with FBI director Kash Patel telling Fox & Friends that matching DNA was found on a towel wrapped around the rifle and on a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired. Patel also said investigators believe Robinson wrote a note of his alleged intent to kill Kirk, bolstering claims the attack was premeditated.

An indictment released Tuesday adds vivid details to the allegations. Prosecutors say surveillance footage captured Robinson climbing onto a campus rooftop, lying prone in a “sniper position,” and firing from nearly 160 yards away. Investigators recovered cartridges at the scene with hand-engraved messages, which prosecutors argue points to premeditation and motive.

Prosecutors also cited interviews with Robinson’s parents and roommate, who said he expressed anger that Kirk “spreads too much hate” and admitted he had “enough of his hatred.” The filing further alleges that Robinson told his roommate to stay silent if approached by police and that children were visible near the stage when Kirk was shot—factors prosecutors say aggravated the seriousness of the crime.

The indictment recounts an interview with Robinson's mother, who told investigators her son had grown more political in the past year "and had started to lean more to the left," the indictment claims, citing "pro-gay" and "trans-rights" views. She described him as becoming increasingly consumed by online debates and grievances, noting his fixation with political topics seemed to intensify in the weeks leading up to the shooting, the indictment says. She added that Robinson had also begun to date his roommate, a transgender woman, adding that his father has “very different political views.”

Charging documents recount an exchange that allegedly took place between Robinson and his roommate, who is said to be fully cooperating with authorities. According to the indictment, the roommate told police they found a note under Robinson’s keyboard reading, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” and later produced texts in which Robinson allegedly confessed, “I am, I’m sorry,” when asked if he was the one who murdered Kirk.

In the messages, Robinson allegedly described a plan to retrieve a stashed rifle, discussed wrapping the gun in a towel and leaving it in a bush to avoid prints, mentioning engraving cartridges as “a big meme,” and contemplated turning himself in through a neighbor who is a deputy.

“remember how I was engraving bullets? The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme, if I see 'notices bulge uwu' on fox new I might have a stroke alright im gonna have to leave it, that really fucking sucks,” Robinson allegedly wrote in a text message, according to the indictment, citing one of the memes engraved on bullets discovered by investigators.

Robinson repeatedly told the roommate to delete their messages, to refuse interviews, and to ask for a lawyer if questioned—details prosecutors cite as the basis for obstruction and witness-tampering counts.

Investigators are also scrutinizing Robinson’s digital footprint. Screenshots obtained by The Washington Post and other outlets allegedly show him confessing in a private Discord chat hours before surrendering: “It was me at UVU yesterday. i’m sorry for all of this.” The same user followed with another message saying he was about to turn himself in through “a sheriff friend.” Discord reportedly confirmed it gave copies of the messages to law enforcement and said it found no evidence that Robinson used the platform to plan or promote violence.

Robinson was arrested roughly 33 hours after the shooting, with authorities saying his parents first recognized him in photos and urged him to surrender. He later turned himself in at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Kirk’s murder was quickly weaponized to marshal power in Washington, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance spinning allegations in tandem about a broader left-wing conspiracy—neither offering any evidence to support their claims. On Monday, Vance hosted an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show from the White House, where he and other officials pledged a crackdown on liberal organizations vaguely accused of fueling unrest.

Critics say the White House is exploiting the death to advance partisan aims, using an open criminal case to exact political retribution through the machinery of law.

US security services have long stressed that domestic extremism is driven by varied ideologies, from racially or ethnically motivated movements to anti-government and religious grievances. Multiple studies, nevertheless, have found that right-wing extremists commit far more attacks—and deadlier ones—than the left, a statistical reality that cuts directly against the administration’s script.

A Department of Justice study showing that far-right extremist violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the US was removed from the DOJ’s website this week without explanation.

Updated 3:20 pm and 3:55 pm ET, September 16, 2025: Added additional details from the indictment against Robinson.