President Donald Trump broke the news Friday that the suspected killer of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk had been apprehended after leading investigators on a manhunt lasting two days, and as of Friday morning, law enforcement has released some key details on the alleged assassin.
The suspected killer is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, a resident of Utah, according to law enforcement sources who spoke with the New York Post.
Trump revealed that the suspect was identified after investigators received a tip from someone “who was very close to him.” He also suggested that the person who tipped off investigators was the suspect’s father, who he said was “involved with law enforcement” and “a person of faith, a minister,” and had turned the suspect over to a United States marshal.
Reporting from the Daily Mail also corroborates Trump's claim that the suspect confessed to the killing to their father, who the outlet identified as Matt Robinson, a 27-year veteran of the Washington County Sheriffs Department, according to sources who spoke with the outlet. The Daily Mail goes on to identify the suspect's mother as Amber Robinson, who works for a company that provides care for people with disabilities that is contracted by the state o Utah.
Robinson was also a student at Utah State University, lived in a $600,000 six-bedroom home in Washington, Utah, and was taken into custody at around 11 p.m. Thursday night, according to "insiders" who spoke with the Daily Mail.
Kirk was killed Wednesday while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University by a shooter, who police believe had fired on Kirk with a bolt-action rifle from 200 yards away atop the roof of a campus building. Law enforcement scrambled to track down the shooter but stumbled repeatedly over the next two days, including with premature claims from FBI Director Kash Patel that the suspect had already been caught.
Trump went on to say he hoped Robinson received the death penalty, and when asked if he believed the assassination to be part of a broader plot, he indicated there was no evidence to suggest the suspect acted with others.
“Well you don’t know, I mean, you don’t know,” he said during an appearance Friday on Fox News.
Internet sleuths have already begun digging through the suspected killer’s internet history, but as of Friday morning, no additional details on Robinson have been verified by media outlets.