Charlie Kirk’s shooter, Tyler Robinson, seemed like any other young man on a promising path. He grew up in an ordinary Utah family, earned top grades with a 4.0 GPA, and even won a four-year merit scholarship to State University. But now he is known as the 22-year-old accused of killing one of Donald Trump’s closest allies and a key MAGA figure.
‘Robinson was like diehard Trump’
In high school, Robinson was seen as conservative like his family, reports CNN. One former classmate said, “When I knew him and his family, they were like diehard Trump. When this happened, I was like… I don’t know what changed.”More recently, others saw his views shift. An electrician who worked with Robinson weeks before the shooting recalled him being reserved and said he “wasn’t too fond of Trump or Charlie (Kirk).”Voter records show Robinson is registered without party affiliation and never cast a ballot.
‘Shy, goofy and fun to be around’
Robinson’s peers described him as shy, quiet and a little goofy. “He didn’t really talk political… unless someone brought it up,” one workmate said. Another classmate added, “He was fun to be around, fun to talk to. He just was kind of shy and didn’t open up very often.”A neighbour in St. George said Robinson appeared “super reclusive” and rarely came outside. Another thought he was Republican but admitted, “I guess I was wrong about that.”One long-time neighbour said: “I would have never thought that about him. His arrest has me and my family in complete awe.”
How he surrendered
The FBI circulated images of the suspect during a 33-hour manhunt. Robinson’s father recognised his son and confronted him. “Tyler, is this you? This looks like you,” he asked, according to a law enforcement source. Robinson admitted it was him and suggested he would rather kill himself than turn himself in.After speaking with a youth pastor, he eventually agreed to be taken into custody with his family’s help.
Gaming, memes and bullet casings
Robinson was described as “very, very big into gaming” and even interested in game design. In school, he and his friends would spend lunch playing card games, and social media posts show him dressing up as characters from memes.This deep involvement in online culture seems to have shaped the strange messages investigators later found, according to CNN. Casings from a rifle abandoned near the crime scene were engraved with phrases such as “Hey fascist! Catch!” and lyrics from the Italian song “Bella Ciao.” Others were marked with trolling-style lines like, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO,” and even arrows from the controls of the video game Helldivers 2.Utah governor Spencer Cox said one of the inscriptions “speaks for itself.” A family member had earlier told investigators that Robinson had criticised Kirk at a family dinner, calling him “full of hate and spreading hate.”
