Today marks one week since the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Tyler Robinson is now charged with seven counts, including aggravated murder, after appearing in court by video.
He will likely face the death penalty.
At Robinson’s arraignment, the judge began with, “State of Utah vs. Tyler James Robinson. Could you state your name? Robinson answered on screen, “Tyler James Robinson.”
Authorities are also investigating more than 20 people with alleged ties to Robinson on the online messaging platform, Discord, trying to determine if anyone knew of his alleged plan ahead of time.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray laid out the case against Robinson, saying Robinson’s parents recognized him from images circulated after the attack and that when they confronted him, the suspect indicated he did it.
Gray said, “Robinson’s parents were able to convince him to meet at their home. As they discussed the situation, Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it. When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there was too much evil in the guy, referring to Charlie Kirk; he spreads too much hate.”
According to Gray, Robinson’s parents convinced him to turn himself in and his mother later described a change in her son. “Over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the Left, becoming more pro-gay and trans rights oriented. She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders. This resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views.”
After the assassination, Robinson texted his boyfriend.
Gray said, “The roommate received a text message from Robinson, which said, ‘Drop what you’re doing. Look under my keyboard. The roommate looked under the keyboard and found a note that stated, quote, ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.'”
Gray said at first the roommate thought Robinson was joking, but Robinson insisted he wasn’t:
“To be honest, I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson texted.
His boyfriend responded, “You weren’t the one who did it right?”
Robinson: “I am, I’m sorry.”
Boyfriend: “Why??”
Robinson: “Why did I do it??
Boyfriend: “Yeah.”
Robinson: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, shouting matches erupted in a hearing between FBI Director Kash Patel and Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Adam Schiff over the FBI’s handling of the Charlie Kirk investigation, with Patel calling Schiff a “liar” and a “political buffoon.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said lawmakers must tone down the rhetoric.
“It leads to bad consequences. Leaders cannot call their political opponents Nazis and fascists and enemies of the state because they disagree with their policy priorities,” Johnson said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi stepped into controversy over comments made on a podcast about hate speech, when she said this about “hate speech” in America.
“We will absolutely target you, go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything, and that’s across the aisle,” Bondi said.
Those comments triggered a backlash from conservatives, with even White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller comparing it to the liberal American Civil Liberties Union.
Bondi then clarified, saying, “My intention was to speak about threats of violence that individuals incite against others.”
