Tyler Robinson, the alleged murderer of ultraconservative American influencer Charlie Kirk, appeared on Tuesday for the first time, a few hours after being formally charged by Utah authorities, who requested the death penalty against him.
Tyler Robinson, 22, in a green suicide suit and with a few days’ beard, briefly appeared before Judge Tony Graf, who read the charges against him and set the next hearing for September 29.
He listened without showing any particular emotion, just nodding at times.
The accused, whose precise motive remained mysterious until then, justified his action to his loved ones by the “hatred” conveyed according to him by Charlie Kirk, underlined the Utah County prosecutor, Jeffrey Gray, during a press conference.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10 with a bullet to the neck while he was moderating a debate on a university campus in Utah, in the west of the country, a tragedy which revived deep American political divisions.
“This guy spreads too much hatred,” Tyler Robinson told his parents, referring to Charlie Kirk, to explain his action, explained Jeffrey Gray. “I’ve had enough of this hatred. There is a hatred with which we cannot compromise,” he also wrote in a message to the person with whom he lived, added the prosecutor.
He turned himself in to police on September 11 under pressure from his parents, according to authorities.
The death penalty being requested against him, Tyler Robinson will remain in detention without the possibility of release on bail, said Jeffrey Gray.
For about a year, Tyler Robinson, from a conservative family, had become politicized and moved closer to more left-wing positions, favorable to the rights of LGBT and transgender people, according to his mother, cited by the prosecutor.
The accused was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, a “biologically male person who was in the process of changing gender,” he confirmed.
Aggravating circumstances
Tyler Robinson is facing seven counts, including murder, “for intentionally or knowingly causing the death of Charlie Kirk in circumstances which resulted in a great risk of death for others,” he said.
The two main charges carry aggravating circumstances “because the accused is alleged to have targeted Charlie Kirk because of his political expression and with the knowledge that children were present and would witness the homicide,” he added.
During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday that Tyler Robinson’s contacts on the Discord platform, who may have known about his plans, were “currently under investigation and questioning.”
A 31-year-old figure on the American right, Charlie Kirk used his millions of subscribers on social networks and his interventions at universities to defend Donald Trump and disseminate his nationalist, Christian and traditionalist ideas on the family among young people.
The American president, who recognized his role in his election in November 2024, was quick to denounce the rhetoric of the “radical left”, accused of having influenced the alleged assassin and therefore of being, at least in part, responsible for his act.
Vice-President JD Vance repeated these attacks on Monday by himself hosting, under the auspices of the White House, the podcast previously run by Charlie Kirk. He assured that many on the left are “developing a climate in which such things are bound to happen.”
“It’s a vast movement of domestic terrorism,” went so far as to say Stephen Miller, a close advisor to Donald Trump.
Donald Trump, who will attend a ceremony honoring Charlie Kirk in a stadium in Arizona (southwest) on Sunday, said he was considering classifying the “antifa” movement – or “anti-fascist”, a generic term which designates far-left groups – as a domestic “terrorist” organization.
