Tyler Robinson’s texts to roommate, DNA on gun: 3 things US prosecutors said about Charlie Kirk’s murder suspect

Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative influencer, was killed by a single gunshot to the neck while he was addressing an audience at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Robinson was apprehended after a 30-hour manhunt, turning himself in at a sheriff’s office near his home.

Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent crime when children are present.

What has the prosecutor claimed about Kirk’s alleged murderer? Here are three things to know.

1 – The alleged confession in texts

At a press conference on Tuesday, Gray read out a series of text messages allegedly sent by the suspect to his roommate, directing the latter to a hidden note under his keyboard. The note reportedly read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Authorities have claimed that the roommate, whose identity has not been confirmed officially, was “transitioning from male to female” and was romantically involved with Robinson.

Gray cited stretches of the alleged text message exchange, with Robinson allegedly telling his roommate why he killed Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

The prosecutor also read out sections of this exchange in which Robinson allegedly told his roommate that he had been planning to kill Kirk for “a bit over a week”.

According to Gray, Robinson asked the roommate to delete their text exchange and said that he was going to turn himself in willingly.

2 – Robinson’s ‘parents apprehended him’

Robinson’s parents, longtime Republicans based in southwestern Utah, allegedly turned him in. The suspect had allegedly described his father as “pretty die-hard MAGA” since Trump was elected president, in texts Gray read aloud at the press conference.

Robinson’s mother had told investigators that he had allegedly become more political over the last year and “started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented.”

According to the indictment, Robinson’s mother had seen a video of the suspect a day after the shooting and confronted the son about his resemblance. Robinson told his mother he had been sick and stayed at home the day of the shooting, Grey said.

His father agreed with his wife’s suspicions and believed that the rifle that the police suspected was used by the shooter matched a rifle his son had gotten as a gift. Upon confrontation, Robinson allegedly threatened to take his own life instead of going to jail, according to the indictment.

The parents allegedly involved a retired deputy sheriff, whom they count as a family friend, to convince Robinson to surrender to the police.

According to the indictment, Robinson told his mother that “there is too much evil and the guy spreads too much hate”, referring to Kirk.

3 – Charges against Robinson based on DNA proof

The indictment said that DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger, other parts of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two of the three unfired cartridges, and the towel.

This seemed to be corroborated in the purported texts between Robinson and his roommate. “I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down,” Robinson allegedly wrote, according to the indictment.

“Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it,” another purported message from the suspect read.