The man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk was in custody on Friday after he allegedly confessed to his father that he was the one who fatally shot the conservative activist at Utah Valley University earlier this week.
“We got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared as he announced the arrest of Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old who grew up in the city of Washington, Utah.
Robinson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice in connection with Kirk’s slaying.
He’s currently being held at the Utah County Jail, and is expected to be formally charged early next week.
“I hope he gets the death penalty,” President Trump proclaimed during an early-morning interview on Fox News.
Trump also confirmed the suspect’s arrest came after “somebody that was very close to him turned him in.”
CNN, citing law enforcement sources, said Robinson has been identified by his father based on photos released by the FBI. After Robinson confessed when confronted, his father reached out a youth pastor for help to encourage his son to surrender to police.
He initially refused but then changed his mind, according to a law enforcement official who spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
“His family and a friend helped to deliver him into custody of law enforcement in Washington County,” Gov. Cox said. He was taken into custody about 250 miles from the UVU campus, around 10 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Roughly 12 hours earlier, the FBI released photos of a “person of interest,” showing what appeared to be a young white male in a stairwell. He wore a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt with an eagle and American flag on the front. They also released video footage showing a person jumping off the rooftop from where Kirk was shot and then fleeing through a nearby neighborhood.
Authorities noted that when investigators encountered Robinson, he was wearing clothing “consistent” with the outfit surveillance footage captured. His car had also been spotted Wednesday morning near the scene of the shooting, they said.
Officials also interviewed Robinson’s roommate, who showed investigators a number of messages sent on a group chat app, including ones in which Robinson allegedly said he needed to get a rifle from a drop point and another about leaving that rifle in a bush.
Kirk was shot Wednesday afternoon during a student Q&A on the Orem campus as part of his American Comeback Tour. He was hit in the neck by a lone bullet during the outdoor event and was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Video of the shooting posted on social media shows Kirk seated under a white tent, addressing a question about mass shootings, when the sound of a single gunshot rings out. Blood can then be seen pouring from his neck before he topples from his chair and falls to the floor.
Kirk, a Trump ally and the co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was 31 years old.
Investigators said the shooter fired from several hundred feet away from on top of a building, and then escaped in the ensuing chaos.
Amid the subsequent manhunt, authorities recovered a Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle, wrapped in a towel not far from UVU. A spent cartridge was recovered from the chamber, and three other rounds were loaded in the magazine.
Each of them were inscribed with phrases, at least one of which appears to stem from an online meme, according to digital experts.
“Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” read the spent casing, in what seems to be a reference to an older 4chan meme.
Another read, “Hey, fascist! Catch!” with an up arrow symbol, right arrow and three down arrows. A third was inscribed with “O bella ciao, bella ciao,” a phrase from an Italian anti-fascist folk song that was popularized during World War II.
“If you read this you are gay LMAO,” the last casing read.
Authorities on Friday were still working the decipher the exact meanings of the messages or whether they were intended as misdirection.
The governor declined to speak to a motive for the shooting, adding the investigation is still ongoing. He did, however, note that authorities had interviewed a family member of Robinson’s who said he had “become more political in recent years.”
“The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to Sept. 10, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU,” Cox said. “They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints he had.”
Prior to Wednesday’s deadly violence, Robinson had no known criminal history.
With News Wire Services
Originally Published: September 12, 2025 at 8:55 AM EDT
