On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk, a Christian nationalist activist and superstar MAGA organizer, was fatally shot while addressing an audience on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. A couple of days later, the apparent shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, surrendered for the shooting and — as reported by CNN — it was “Robinson’s family that helped arrange his capture after his father recognized him in photos released by the FBI.”  On September 16^th, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray formally charged Robinson with seven counts in connection with the fatal shooting of Kirk.

Kirk’s killing incited the rage of Pres. Donald Trump and others in his administration as well as conservatives across the country (and world). Trump ranted, “we have radical left lunatics out there, and we just have to beat the hell out of them.”  Going further, he warned, “The radicals on the left are the problem and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy, although they want men and women sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders.”

On Monday, Sept. 15^th, Vice Pres. JD Vance, while hosting Kirk’s podcast, asserted:

Of course, we have to make sure that the killer [Robinson] is brought to justice. And importantly, we have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years and, I believe, is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet.

But was Tyler Robinson a “left lunatic” or part of a “movement of left-wing extremism”?

***

On his Substack site, Ken Klippenstein reports that Robinson announced to his followers on Discord, the web messaging site, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all … it was me at UVU yesterday.” Adding, “I’m sorry for all of this.” 

Klippenstein provides other revealing information from interviews with Discord users and Robinson’s online friends.  For example, one friend stated: “I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part. That’s the big thing, he just never really talked politics which is why it’s so frustrating.”  Another added, “To all of us he just seemed like a simple guy who liked playing games like Sea of Thieves, Deep Rock Galactic and Helldivers 2, loved to fish and loved to camp. It really did seem like that’s all he was about.”

Still another friend noted, “He was a really smart guy but super hard to read, stone cold poker face and you could always never be confident assuming anything.”

And another offered this insight: “Yeah I don’t know what makes a person like him decide he’s going to drive 260 miles upstate to shoot someone like Charlie Kirk, then come back like nothing happened. It leaves a lot of room for speculation and theories which is why I think they’re so rampant.”

County Attorney Grey reports, in the court charge submission, that it was exchanges between Robinson and his parents that opened up the case. 

“Robinson’s mother explained that over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented.  She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders.” 

Grey adds, “this resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views.”

Robinson also opened up to his father:

“As they discussed the situation, Robinson implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it. When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy [Kirk] spreads too much hate.”

Robinson’s family are conservative Mormons who vote Republican, so one can only wonder what “lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented” means.  This is especially important in light of the fact that Robinson’s “roommate” – and apparent lover – was a male transitioning to female.  

County Attorney Grey points out the following:

“On September 10, 2022, the roommate received a text message from Robinson which said, “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard.” The roommate looked under the keyboard and found a note that stated, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” Police found a photograph of this note.”

Grey then lays out the following exchange between Robinson and his unnamed (and therefore somewhat protected) roommate:

“After reading the note, the roommate responded, 

“What?????????????? You’re joking, right????”

Robinson: I am still ok my love, but am stuck in orem for a little while 

longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.

Roommate: you weren’t the one who did it right????

Robinson: I am, I’m sorry

Roommate: I thought they caught the person?

Robinson: no, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated 

someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its quiet, almost enough to get out, but theres one vehicle lingering.

Roommate: Why?

Robinson: Why did I do it?

Roommate: Yeah

Robinson: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.
…

Roommate: How long have you been planning this?

Robinson: a bit over a week I believe. I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it.

There was a peculiar irony to Kirk assassination.  In 2023, he argued in defense of gun killings, insisting, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the 2^nd Amendment. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a completely alternate universe.”

***

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” insisted, “There clearly was a leftist ideology with this — with this assassin.”  Going further, he added, “He does come from a conservative family. But his ideology was very different than his family.”

Trump, Vance and many others within the Administration, along with numerous conservative politicians, pundits and members of the media, endlessly allege that Robinson was a “leftist,” but very little information – i.e., evidence – can document his “ideology.”  Such allegations seem to be based on three factors: his parents’ assessments; his more “moderate” stands on issues like gay and transgender rights; and the fact that he lived with — and his apparently lover was – a male transitioning.  

The rage Trump & company have toward Robinson seemed to be driven as much by the assassination itself (who was killed) as by the (admitted) killer’s beliefs and lifestyle.  Since Robinson apparently has no history of “mental illness,” he can’t be dismissed or normalized as just another “crazy.”  No, this young adult is a “left lunatic,” part of a “movement of left-wing extremism.”

Making matters worse for Robinson, Trump’s rage is compounded by political power.  It is being very selectively used to target those who challenge the argument that Robinson is neither a “leftist” nor a “lunatic.”  

On September 17^th, Disney-Nexstar/ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s daily program, a forceful example of an exercise of political power.  Kimmel’s opening monologue was direct and unequivocal.  

We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.

The Trump administration rallied to defend Trump’s ideological assertions – i.e., that Robinson is a “leftist lunatic.”  Brendan Carr, head of the FCC, took special umbridge at Kimmel’s remarks.  As reported by The New York Times, Carr appeared on Benny Young’s conservative podcast and vehemently argued:

Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. … These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the F.C.C. ahead.

He added: 

We’re seeing a lot of consequences that are flowing from President Trump doing that. Look, NPR has been defunded. PBS has been defunded. Colbert is retiring. Joy Reid is out at MSNBC. Terry Moran is gone and ABC is now admitting that they are biased. CBS has now made some commitments to us that they’re going to return to more fact-based journalism.

Faced with opposition to its assertions about Robinson, the federal government is using its power to silence those who challenge its policies.  With Kimmel, Trump’s state power used a mediator (i.e., Disney-Nexstar/ABC) to do its dirty work and then it did not violate the Kimmel’s First Amendment rights, not dissimilar to the

CBS’s cancelling of Stephen Colbert’s program.

The Guardian recently reported on just how extensive the crack-down on those challenging the Trump assertions that Robinson was a “leftist lunatic” or about Kirk. Those fired included federal employees at the Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and Coast Guard; reporters at MSNBC, The Washington Post and PHNX Sports, an Arizona sports network; academics and university employees at Clemson University, Middle Tennessee State University, Texas State University, Texas Tech University, University of Mississippi and University of Miami; medical professionals in Michigan and Massachusetts; and at airlines, including American and United Airlines; as well as employees at the Carolina Panthers, Nasdaq and the Perkins Coie law firm, the New Orleans and Toledo fire departments, and Office Depot employees, among still others.

***

A growing number of media reports point to the apparent influence of ultra-right-wing groups and theorists in Robinson’s thinking.  Many were concerned by Robinson’s statement made to his roommate: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Perhaps most surprising, Forbes provides a revealing assessment of this issue:

Some social media users have pointed to messages written on unfired casing recovered near the shooting site to suggest Robinson was part of the Groyper movement, though there is currently no explicit link between Robinson and the group. 

One message read “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!” in apparent reference to an antifascist anthem sung by Italians after World War II, yet some social media users noted a version of the song appears on a Spotify playlist meant for Groypers, the New York Times reported. Others reportedly pointed to a Facebook photo in which Robinson appeared to reference a Groyper meme.

And the Groypers?  They are ultra-right-wing white nationalists.  Forbes reports:

Groypers appeared to emerge as a far-right political movement in 2019 as followers of [Nick] Fuentes, with similar beliefs to other alt-right and white supremacist groups and grounded in traditional Christian values, characterizing themselves as “American nationalists,” according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Forbes adds the following: “Fuentes disputed claims that Groypers were to blame for the shooting, writing on X Saturday: ‘My followers and I are currently being framed for the murder of Charlie Kirk by the mainstream media based on literally zero evidence.”  He added, “To all of my followers, if you take up arms, I disavow you,” adding, “I disown you in the strongest possible terms.”

Sadly, little is really known about Tyler Robinson’s political beliefs, leftist or not. More information may likely come out with time – with his trial, with his likely execution and with a likely memoir. 

The Robinson case may well come to resemble that ongoing political charade surrounding the Epstein affair and, sadly, become its own mini-series.  

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