Utah Governor Spencer Cox stated on national television programs on Sunday that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the murder of Republican activist and influencer Charlie Kirk, "is not cooperating" with the investigating agents, following his lawyer's advice. However, testimonies from his family, friends, colleagues, or neighbors indicate that he "had a leftist ideology" and was in "a romantic relationship" with the person he shared an apartment with, who is a man transitioning to a woman.
"It is very clear to us, and to the investigators, that he was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology (...) The information comes from people in his circle, that's how we found out. There is much we are learning. Formal charges will be filed on Tuesday, and much more information will be available. We are trying to learn more about his motives," he added.
Cox described the suspect as "a very normal young man" who seemed to have "radicalized" himself after dropping out of college and returning to his hometown in southern Utah, where he had spent the last few years. The first institution he attended, just for a few months, is considered one of the most conservative in the entire US, in the midst of a state known for being overwhelmingly Republican. "His ideology was clearly different from that of his family," the governor said, as his parents are Republican voters, very religious, and conservative. The young man was now studying at a technical center specializing in electricity.
The emotional bond between Robinson and that person had been previously reported by some media outlets. The significance of that relationship, and the fact that the person is allegedly transgender, is enormous in this case for various reasons. The governor has been extremely cautious in addressing the issue, and when asked by journalists, he only mentioned that any connection between the romantic relationship and the motives of the crime is being analyzed, without drawing conclusions. "I can confirm, and the FBI has, that they were a romantic couple. I can say that person has been incredibly cooperative, had no idea what was going to happen, and is being very helpful. It's easy to draw conclusions from that... But I'm not sure about the issue right now," he said regarding whether having a transgender partner could have been a trigger or one of the reasons for the shooting. "I know everyone wants to know things and point fingers, I understand. But we need to wait a bit."
Kirk was literally killed while answering questions about mass shootings in the US, specifically those carried out by transgender individuals. A very controversial topic in the country after a man transitioning to a woman shot in a school in Minneapolis this August, killing two children and injuring 18 others. In his diary, he explained how he wanted to be called Robin, not Robert, among hundreds of references to school shootings, "his desires to kill President Trump, and a toxic mix of racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia".
Kirk was known not only for his opposition to transgender participation in sports competitions but also for much more aggressive attacks. He stated that transgenderism was "flipping off God," an "abomination", citing the Scriptures, and blaming the feminization of men. Many of his interventions, not only in the debates that made him famous in universities but also in podcasts, interviews, political events, or speeches in churches, aligned with the most hardcore wing of the MAGA movement, which considers transgenderism an "aberration," calls for it to be declared illegal, and even advocates for removing custody of transgender minors from their parents.
One of the first clues in the investigation after Robinson's arrest was gathered in the affidavit, the sworn statement of one of the agents who interviewed Robinson's family and neighbors, who stated that in a recent argument, the accused had criticized Kirk for being "a spreader of hate." There was indeed a preliminary report from the agency specializing in firearms that suggested there might be references to the trans cause in some engravings found on the bullets alongside the crime rifle. It was ultimately found that there were various types of messages, with nods to video games and other elements of popular culture, as well as mentions of "fascism" and the furry movement (adults dressing as anthropomorphic animals), and there are social media images of Robinson's alleged partner linking to that world, but nothing specific about transgenderism.
Reactions to that romantic relationship, confirmed by Cox, have led to more radical voices in the American right calling for exemplary measures. "It's time to completely ban cross hormones. They can't change your sex. They turn men with perverse fetishes into disturbed biological weapons, and women trying to escape sexual trauma into osteoporotic androgynous goblins. These people need to spend a lot of time in mental institutions; some of them, indefinitely," wrote podcaster Connor Tomlinson, shared by Elon Musk with his over 225 million followers.
"How much do you want to bet that we will discover there is a trans terrorist cell that trained Tyler Robinson and possibly even provided him with the weapon to kill Charlie? It seems this was very premeditated. Literally, now there are shooting clubs where transgender individuals gather to learn how to shoot rifles and wear shirts that say 'Kill fascists' and 'The Second Amendment is for shooting cops.' They are training for war. It's very dangerous," posted Laura Loomer on her social media, a spreader of all kinds of conspiracies and a friend and personal advisor to the president, with significant influence in the Administration. "These people are sick. It's time to designate the transgender movement as a terrorist movement. Transgender individuals are a threat to society. We cannot allow them to continue killing people. They must be socially marginalized, and the president should make medical transition illegal in our country. It's time," she added in another comment.
In the last 48 hours, all kinds of theories had circulated on social media and some news outlets. One of them, for example, based on the mention of Bella Ciao and some photos from years ago of Robinson in a tracksuit replicating a well-known viral meme, suggested that the suspect could be a Groyper, which is what followers of Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist figure much more radical than Kirk with wildly racist views, are known as.
The investigation is ongoing, and The New York Times has published conversations through Discord between Robinson and some friends or former schoolmates with whom he shared a group, where he joked about his resemblance to the images circulated by the FBI that eventually led to his surrender. Several group members pointed out the similarities, and the suspect laughed, saying he was a "doppelganger" and that if someone reported him and received the $100,000 reward, he wanted a share.