The day conservative activist Charlie Kirk was gunned down while debating students on a Utah college campus, the man eventually charged with his murder sent his roommate a text message, officials said.
“Drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard,” Tyler James Robinson wrote, according to court papers filed Tuesday by Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray.
The roommate, whom Robinson referred to as “my love” and whose name police have not released, did so and found a note.
“I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” the note allegedly said.
While the manhunt for Kirk’s killer was underway, Robinson’s parents began to suspect that the photo of the shooter flashing on the news might be their son and that the murder weapon might be the rifle he received as a gift.
Officials said that as his parents grappled with those questions, Robinson continued to text his roommate, whom police described as “a biological male who was involved in a romantic relationship” with the suspect and transitioning to female.
“My dad wants photos of the rifle,” Robinson wrote, according to the charging document. “Hes calling me rn, not answering.”
Robinson told his roommate to “delete this exchange,” officials allege.
The roommate didn’t, and the thread became evidence that Gray used to charge Robinson with aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Kirk on Sept. 10 during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Robinson, 22, is also charged with felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and several other counts, and officials said they would seek the death penalty.
He told his roommate that he had been planning the attack for over a week and referred to the engravings on the bullets police recovered as a “big meme,” the charging document alleges.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox previously said inscriptions were found on at least four bullets discovered after Kirk’s assassination.
One engraving read, “Hey fascist! Catch! ↑ → ↓↓↓,” a seeming reference, at least in part, to a video game that has been interpreted as a satire of fascism.
Kirk, 31, a popular but polarizing podcast host and conservative activist who had been one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, was bantering with students when he was fatally shot from a rooftop about two football fields away.
Officials allege that Robinson had already discarded the clothes he had been wearing and hidden the rifle after the shooting when he texted his roommate.
The roommate at first didn’t believe he was involved in Kirk’s killing, according to the text exchanges in the charging document.
“What?????????????? You’re joking right????” the roommate wrote back.
Robinson wasn’t joking, the charging document alleges.
“I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age,” he texted, according to the document. “I am sorry to involve you.”
But Robinson’s roommate still didn’t believe it, noting that authorities said they had a person in custody.
“No, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing,” Robinson purportedly texted. “I had planned to grab my rifle from the drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down.”
Detectives later found a Mauser Model 98 bolt-action rifle in a wooded area near the university.
The roommate also asked Robinson the question many Americans had been asking since the shocking shooting: “Why?”
“I had enough of his hatred,” Robinson texted back, according to the charging document. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Robinson was raised in a conservative family, and his mother told investigators that over the previous year her son “had started to lean more to the left — become more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” the court papers said.
Officials said that Robinson’s parents didn’t start suspecting their son was involved in Kirk’s killing until the day after the shooting and that his mother "called her son and asked him where he was.”
“He said he was home sick and that he had also been home sick on September 10th,” the papers stated.
But neither she nor Robinson’s dad believed him.
“In one conversation before the shooting, Robinson mentioned that Charlie Kirk would be holding an event at UVU, which Robinson said was a ‘stupid venue,’” the papers said. “Robinson accused Kirk of spreading hate.”
Robinson allegedly texted his roommate that he and his dad were on different political pages, adding that “since Trump got into office [my dad] has been pretty diehard maga.”
When Robinson’s parents were finally able to reach him, he “implied that he planned to take his own life,” the document stated.
Instead, “Robinson’s parents were able to convince him to meet at their home,” it said.
Once he was there, “Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it," officials said in the document.
“When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate,” the document stated. “They talked about Robinson turning himself in and convinced Robinson to speak with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff.”
The family friend, who isn’t identified, persuaded Robinson to give himself up to officials.
Later in the text thread, Robinson allegedly told his roommate, “Im gonna turn myself in willingly, one of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.”
Robinson allegedly told the roommate not to talk with the media and added, “if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent.”
“You are all I worry about love,” Robinson texted, the charging document stated.
