THE 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University on 10 September has been formally charged with a series of offences, including aggravated murder, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Tyler Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and the commission of a violent offence in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said. Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty. Robinson remains in custody and is being held without bail.
‘An American tragedy’, Gray said Describing Kirk’s death as “an American tragedy”, Mr Gray said he did not “take this decision lightly” when explaining the office’s intention to pursue capital punishment.
Robinson was arrested last week and booked into the Utah County Jail; probable-cause documents filed in the case list the initial charges as felony discharge of a firearm, aggravated murder and obstruction of justice.
Confession alleged in charging documents According to the charging documents, Robinson was identified after his father recognised him in photographs released by investigators. Utah Governor Spencer Cox previously said the suspect’s father told authorities his wife had shown him a surveillance image and he agreed it resembled their son.
The documents say the father believed the rifle pictured by police matched one that had been given to his son as a gift. The father is said to have contacted Robinson and asked him to send a photograph of the weapon; Robinson did not respond.
When his father telephoned him, the documents allege, Robinson suggested he intended to take his own life. He later met his parents at their home, where he is said to have implied he was the shooter and told them he “couldn’t go to jail” and “just wanted to end it”. When asked why he had carried out the attack, the papers quote Robinson as saying “there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate”.
