Utah officials said investigators recovered messages indicating the man accused of killing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk joked with acquaintances on the messaging platform Discord about resembling the person shown in surveillance images of the shooting.
Governor Spencer Cox said investigators determined Tyler Robinson, 22, engaged in online conversations in which friends tagged him after surveillance photos of a suspect were circulated. "Those conversations definitely were happening," Cox told ABC News, adding that participants initially treated the remarks as jokes "until he admitted that it actually was him."
Robinson was arrested Friday and is expected to be formally charged in the killing of Kirk, 31, which occurred during a debate at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Authorities released surveillance images after taking nearly two days to identify a suspect. The images showed a person in a long-sleeved dark top, long pants, sunglasses and a baseball cap.
Officials and reporting from The New York Times and other outlets said Discord messages obtained by investigators show users sharing the surveillance photos and tagging Robinson. One message asked "wya" with a skull emoji after posting the images, to which a tagged user responded, according to the messages. Robinson reportedly wrote, "My doppelganger's trying to get me in trouble," while another user in the chat wrote, "Tyler killed Charlie!!!!" as a joke. Other messages attributed to Robinson included a quip about taking a cut of a reported $100,000 reward and references to disposing of a manifesto and a rifle.
Utah Gov. Cox told NBC News and CNN that investigators are examining whether Robinson's relationship with a transgender partner factored into a motive. Cox confirmed the suspect's roommate, identified as Lance Twiggs, is transitioning from male to female and said Twiggs has been cooperating with authorities. "Yes, definitely. And yes, I can confirm that," Cox told CNN's Dana Bash when asked whether the roommate was a romantic partner.
Authorities have said they are reviewing a written note connected to Robinson. Jud Hoffman, vice president for trust and safety at Discord, told reporters there were communications between the suspect's roommate and a friend recounting the contents of a note Robinson had left. Cox said the note and other materials are being processed for accuracy and verification and "will be included in charging documents." He cautioned that some elements remain under review.
Investigators also reported that casings recovered at the scene bore engraved phrases. Officials said the markings included "Hey fascist! CATCH!," lyrics from an anti-fascist Italian song and a sexually explicit meme reference. Cox said the bullets featured wording related to transgender and antifascist themes.
Robinson, a Utah native and a former student at Utah State University, was persuaded to turn himself in by his father, according to reporting. Friends and former classmates expressed shock at the arrest. One former classmate described Robinson as a "sharp, kind" student and said she had expected him to be successful in conventional ways. Another acquaintance described him as a "Reddit kid" and warned that extensive time in online communities can lead to radicalization.
Cox said Robinson's political views appeared to accelerate after he left college and returned to southern Utah, and he raised concerns about immersion in extremist online subcultures. "Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on, friends that have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark Internet, Reddit culture and these other dark places on the Internet where this person was going deep," the governor told NBC News.
Kirk, the founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was 31 and speaking at a university event when he was shot in the neck. He was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital. The shooting prompted a sweeping law enforcement response, including an FBI presence and a multiagency investigation.
Law enforcement officials have not publicly released a motive. Federal and state investigators have said they are pursuing evidence from digital communications, the written note, the casings and other materials collected at the scene and during searches. Authorities have also seized items and interviewed people who knew Robinson as part of their inquiry.
Robinson is expected to face formal charges in state court. Officials have said charging documents will reflect the investigative findings as they are verified. The investigation remains active, and prosecutors and federal agents are coordinating on the ongoing case.
The killing has drawn national attention and renewed discussion about political violence, online extremism and the role of social media and gaming platforms in radicalizing young people. Officials caution that formal charges and filings will provide the most complete public account of what led to the attack as the legal process unfolds.