The alleged messages between Tyler Robinson and friends after the assassination of Charlie Kirk have been revealed.
On Wednesday (10 September) the Donald Trump ally, 31, was hit by a single shot to the neck as he conducted a 3,000-person-strong debate at Utah Valley University (UVU).
Kirk was taken to hospital by his security team, where he was declared dead by Trump shortly afterwards.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been active in searching for the assassin and launched a manhunt for two days until a family member tipped off authorities and he was arrested for the killing.
Advert
In a press conference held on Friday, the FBI identified 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect, explaining that they had interviewed Robinson's roommate, who showed them Discord messages between himself and a user named ‘Tyler’.
The messages reportedly talked about retrieving a rifle from a 'drop point' and items such as a ‘scope’ and ‘unique’ rifle.
"Investigators identified an individual as the roommate of Robinson. "Investigators interviewed that roommate who stated that his roommate made a joke on Discord," said Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
"He showed several messages and allowed investigators to take photos of the screen. These photos consisted of various messages, including content of messages between the phone contact of Tyler and Robinson's roommate's device.
Advert
"The content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler, stated the need to retrieve the rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel."
While Discord came out to say that the messages were actually from the roommate, who was talking to a friend about a note Robinson had allegedly left elsewhere, new messages have come to light.
According to a report, Robinson had been joking with friends on Discord that his ‘doppelganger’ shot Kirk after the FBI released an image of the suspect.
One of his friends had tagged him in a post with the FBI images and wrote ‘wya’ (where you at?) along with a skull emoji.
Robinson then replied, claiming it was his doppelganger trying to ‘get me in trouble.’
Advert
“Tyler killed Charlie!!!” another user then wrote, the outlet reported.
One member of the group chat went on to suggest turning Robinson in to receive the $100,000 reward the FBI had offered up.
“Only if I get a cut,” said Robinson.
“Whatever you do, don’t go to a McDonald’s anytime soon,” one user joked, referencing killer Luigi Mangion.
Advert
Robinson then responded that he ‘better also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around’, before saying the alleged killer was ‘CLEARLY’ from California.
Robinson then allegedly mocked the ‘trans’ engravings on the ammunition and claimed it was made up by a ‘dude in the briefing room’.
Governor Cox has also provided a potential motive for the killing since his arrest.
They believe it had been politically motivated after authorities received information from a family member of Robinson.
"In the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had," the governor said.
Advert
The suspect reportedly mentioned disliking Kirk at a recent dinner with his family - and mentioned Kirk was coming to Utah.
Topics: Politics, US News, Charlie Kirk
Britt Jones