Photo: Screenshot/FBI Salt Lake City
Formal charges against Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer were announced Tuesday afternoon, as Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray laid out seven charges against the suspected assassin, in which one count, upon conviction, could be the death penalty.
Amid seven charges, including aggravated murder (which carries the death penalty in Utah upon conviction) and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, the charging documents also included alleged text messages between the suspect and his roommate, in which prosecutors paint a picture of a high level of alleged planning that went into the assassination of Kirk on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.
The suspect, Tyler James Robinson, 22, turned himself in at the behest of his parents and a family friend on September 11, 2025. According to court documents, Robinson surrendered to authorities after his mother and father saw a photo published by law enforcement of the suspect, and they both agreed that it looked like their son.
During a phone conversation with the suspect, Robinson “implied” to his father that he was the shooter, “and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it,” prosecutors said.
Per the court’s charging documents:
“When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate. They talked about Robinson turning himself in and convinced Robinson to speak with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff. At Robinson’s father’s request, the family friend met with Robinson and his parents and convinced Robinson to turn himself in.”
Additionally, the indictment documents included information about Robinson’s living situation: “Police interviewed Robinson’s roommate, a biological male who was involved in a romantic relationship with Robinson. The roommate told police that the roommate received messages from Robinson about the shooting and provided those messages to police.”
This alleged text exchange was provided in the documents for public viewing. According to the information from the court, on September 10, Robinson’s roommate allegedly received a text message from the suspect, which instructed him to “look under my keyboard.”
There, the roommate found a note that allegedly said: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” The documents noted that police “found a photograph of this note.”
Further, these alleged text messages demonstrated a shockingly detailed trail of apparent dialogue.
“Text exchanges between Charlie Kirk’s killer and his trans roommate appear to completely repudiate the insistence of the legacy media that there’s no reason to presume the two men were romantically involved,” remarked Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham, upon reviewing these court documents.
“Seems pretty clear they were,” she said.
Robinson, in this text thread, discussed his alleged actions last week, and talked extensively about the purported murder weapon (a high-powered rifle), and the need to retrieve it after leaving it wrapped in a towel. This is consistent with law enforcement’s report last week of locating a rifle, ammunition rounds, and a towel on a rooftop shortly after the shooting.
According to court documents, DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found “on the trigger” and other parts of the rifle.
In texts, Robinson also allegedly discussed his concern about “prints” on what is assumed by authorities to be the potential murder weapon, and noted that he “changed outfits.” Additionally, Robinson, when asked by his roommate “how long” he had been planning this (presumably, Kirk’s assassination), allegedly stated that he had been preparing for “a bit over a week I believe.”
Robinson’s messages also highlighted the engraved bullet casings found at the scene, which included anti-Fascist and “furry” community terms. He allegedly wrote, “remember how I was engraving bullets? The f***ing messages are mostly a big meme…alright im gonna have to leave it [the rifle], that really f***ing sucks. ..”
Robinson reportedly requested in this text thread that his roommate “delete this exchange” and asked him not to talk to the media and to “stay silent” if the police asked him questions, according to the texts published in the indictment.
The supposed text message exchange unveiled by authorities this week paints a chilling picture of what prosecutors are presenting as a planned and politically-motivated killing.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced Tuesday that prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Robinson and that the suspected killer will be held without bail.