Angenette Levy Investigates Tyler Robinson's Discord Confession to Assassinating Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University

[00:00] Accused assassin Tyler Robinson

[00:02] confessed to killing Charlie Kirk on

[00:04] Discord. That information was confirmed

[00:06] by the company. I take a look at what

[00:09] Robinson is alleged to have said and

[00:11] what else he and his friends were doing

[00:13] on the chat platform.

[00:17] [Music]

[00:22] Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anget Levy.

[00:25] Tyler Robinson admitted to his friends

[00:27] on Discord that he murdered Charlie

[00:29] Kirk. That news was first reported by

[00:32] the Washington Post late Monday

[00:34] afternoon and a spokesperson for Discord

[00:36] confirmed to me that that report was

[00:39] accurate. This news came as Discord has

[00:42] come under scrutiny. People have been

[00:44] wondering what was Tyler Robinson

[00:46] discussing on Discord. Was he

[00:48] radicalized on the platform used widely

[00:51] by gamers? There are a lot of questions

[00:53] and I'm going to answer all of them for

[00:55] you as best I can. But first, to Tyler's

[00:58] alleged confession. Last Thursday, the

[01:01] one-time straighta student and

[01:02] scholarship recipient was in a group

[01:05] chat with a lot of people when he let

[01:07] them know they wouldn't be hearing from

[01:09] him any longer. The message Tyler sent,

[01:12] according to the Washington Post, said,

[01:14] "Hey guys, I have bad news for you all.

[01:17] It was me at UVU yesterday. I'm sorry

[01:20] for all of this. I'm surrendering

[01:22] through a sheriff friend in a few

[01:24] moments. Thanks for all the good times

[01:26] and laughs. You've all been so amazing.

[01:29] Thank you all for everything. Again, a

[01:31] Discord spokesperson confirmed the

[01:33] authenticity of these messages. Before

[01:36] Robinson's admission, one of the friends

[01:38] talked about seeing Kirk assassinated

[01:41] and said, "Bro didn't deserve to go out

[01:43] like that." The next day, one of the

[01:45] people in the chat said they should pray

[01:47] for Tyler and his repentance. and then

[01:50] said while some didn't agree with Kirk's

[01:52] stances, they should also pray for his

[01:54] family. The New York Times has reported

[01:57] that Tyler Robinson had joked with

[01:58] friends that the man in the surveillance

[02:01] photos and images released by the FBI

[02:03] and Utah DPS was his doppelganger trying

[02:06] to get him into trouble. The FBI says it

[02:09] has evidence that Tyler Robinson wrote

[02:11] about killing Charlie Kirk. And we have

[02:14] evidence to show what was in that note,

[02:16] which is um and I'm going to uh

[02:18] summarize basically saying I the suspect

[02:21] wrote a note saying I have the

[02:23] opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and

[02:24] I'm going to take it. That note was

[02:26] written before the shooting. Um evidence

[02:29] of existence we now have learned existed

[02:31] before the shooting was in the location

[02:33] um in the suspect and partner's home.

[02:36] But we have since learned that the note,

[02:38] even though it has been destroyed, we

[02:40] have found forensic evidence of the

[02:41] note. And we have confirmed what that

[02:44] note says because of our aggressive

[02:47] interview posture at the FBI.

[02:49] >> A Discord spokesperson has confirmed to

[02:51] me that Robinson's roommate, who was

[02:53] also his romantic partner, discussed

[02:55] this note on Discord with another person

[02:58] and that the note discussed retrieving

[03:00] the weapon and the bullets. A fired

[03:02] casing had notices bulge. ow what's this

[03:06] written on it which apparently

[03:07] originates from furry culture unfired

[03:10] casings had other sayings etched on them

[03:12] hey fascist catch with an exclamation

[03:14] point another had oh bellachow bellachow

[03:18] bellachow chow chow which is an Italian

[03:21] anti-fascist song from the 1940s which

[03:23] has become more popular now on Tik Tok

[03:26] and finally if you read this you are gay

[03:29] lmao officials have said they are

[03:32] talking with the romantic partner who

[03:34] likely holds a lot of information about

[03:36] Tyler Robinson.

[03:37] >> Um, there were reports yesterday that

[03:40] that that uh that we can confirm that uh

[03:42] that his roommate was indeed a boyfriend

[03:45] uh who who is transitioning from uh from

[03:48] male to female. Uh that's that's

[03:50] information that the FBI had uh had

[03:53] mentioned yesterday. Uh we can confirm

[03:55] that as well and that that uh that he is

[03:58] cooperating with with authorities as

[04:00] well. The Discord spokesperson says

[04:02] Tyler Robinson did not plan the

[04:04] assassination on Discord. And she claims

[04:06] he did not discuss it before it happened

[04:09] and was not radicalized on the platform.

[04:11] She also said Tyler and his partner did

[04:14] not discuss the killing on Discord

[04:16] either. She says the platform is

[04:18] cooperating with law enforcement in the

[04:20] investigation. FBI Director Cash Patel

[04:23] was asked at a Senate hearing about

[04:25] Discord's role in this probe. Reports

[04:27] have suggested that the FBI is

[04:29] investigating a broader network of

[04:30] groups that may have had some knowledge

[04:33] of the shooters plans. Can you give us

[04:36] any details on that? Following up what

[04:38] you've already said in public, how's the

[04:39] FBI working to find other potential

[04:42] accompllices, folks who may have known

[04:44] about the shooter's plans, folks who may

[04:46] have encouraged him? Any any update on

[04:48] any of that? So, in terms of what we do

[04:50] for an interrogation um perspective, we

[04:53] go and reach out to the family and

[04:54] community immediately and we've

[04:56] conducted those investigations and

[04:57] interrogations with local law

[04:58] enforcement and we're continuing to do

[05:00] that because those closest to the

[05:03] suspect are going to hopefully know the

[05:05] most about the suspect and his beliefs

[05:07] and his ideology. On top of that, um,

[05:10] unfortunately, it has been leaked that

[05:11] there was a uh a Discord chat. And for

[05:14] those unfamiliar with it, it's a gaming

[05:16] chat room online,

[05:19] um, that the suspect participated in.

[05:21] So, what we're doing, we've already done

[05:23] sort of legal process, not just on

[05:25] Discord, so that the information we

[05:27] gathered is sustained and held in a

[05:31] evidentary posture that we could use in

[05:33] prosecution should it be decided to do

[05:35] so. And we're also going to be

[05:36] investigating anyone and everyone

[05:38] involved in that Discord chat.

[05:40] >> Okay, very good. I see the public

[05:42] reports that the Discord thread had as

[05:44] many as 20 additional users. It sounds

[05:46] like you're you're trying to run down

[05:48] all of that to see if that's accurate.

[05:50] Who else may have been on that thread,

[05:51] what they may have known. Is that fair

[05:53] to say?

[05:53] >> It's a lot more than that. We're running

[05:55] them all down.

[05:55] >> It's a lot more than 20.

[05:57] >> Yes, sir.

[05:57] >> And you're running all of that to

[05:59] >> every single one.

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[06:32] to bring in Sky Lazaro. She is a defense

[06:34] attorney who practices in Utah. Sky, uh,

[06:37] right off the bat, I want to get your

[06:39] reaction to Tyler Robinson apparently

[06:41] telling his friends on Discord on

[06:44] Thursday night of last week. Yeah. Hey

[06:46] guys, it was me. I did it. Um, my dad is

[06:50] getting ready to turn me into sheriff's

[06:52] deputies.

[06:54] Yikes. Uh, you're

[06:56] you know, as a criminal defense

[06:58] attorney, as soon as somebody starts

[07:00] making admissions on any platform, uh,

[07:03] your heart kind of sinks to your stomach

[07:05] because those words are never going to

[07:07] go away. There are things we can keep

[07:09] out of trials and different things, but,

[07:12] uh, a defendant's words are never one of

[07:14] them. And so, you know, if they can

[07:17] verify that it was him who put that out

[07:20] there and made that admission, uh,

[07:22] that's going to be pretty compelling

[07:24] evidence against him.

[07:26] A and all of this Discord stuff. I mean,

[07:28] Discord is becoming a focal point of

[07:31] this investigation because the roommate

[07:35] uh the the trans roommate, the the

[07:37] partner of Tyler Robinson apparently was

[07:40] telling people on Discord a third

[07:42] telling a third party, Tyler left this

[07:45] note and he talked about how he did it

[07:48] and you know the bullets and that I

[07:50] needed to go get the weapon or

[07:52] retrieving the weapon from the woods and

[07:54] all of this stuff. So there's this

[07:56] digital trail. Um there's a lot of

[07:59] scrutiny. You know, Discord is under

[08:01] scrutiny right now because it sounds

[08:03] like this is a platform where people are

[08:06] talking about all kinds of stuff. He

[08:08] didn't plan it on Discord. Discord says

[08:11] they didn't he didn't talk about it or

[08:12] become radicalized on Discord, but he

[08:16] this thing was certainly discussed on

[08:17] there. Uh so something's going on on

[08:20] this app.

[08:22] >> That's true. And I think that happens

[08:23] with a with different apps uh where

[08:26] people are messaging. Uh this one seems

[08:29] to be front and center right now. Um and

[08:32] it it maybe wasn't picked up or it

[08:34] wasn't turned in or maybe was nothing

[08:36] was ever said before he did it. I think

[08:39] we'll probably see more as the

[08:40] investigation

[08:42] uh goes on and and they collect more

[08:44] evidence. Um the roommate, you know, has

[08:47] been or seemingly has been cooperating

[08:49] with police. this note that's referenced

[08:53] doesn't seem to exist anymore. I guess

[08:55] we'll see if uh they can find that. Um

[08:58] but you know it is problematic. I think

[09:01] you know for discord itself mostly uh

[09:04] that these conversations were being

[09:06] held.

[09:07] >> Yeah. Most certainly and these are these

[09:10] are adults you know these aren't kids.

[09:12] They're younger adults. um even though

[09:15] they kind of are kids, like we would

[09:17] look at them as younger kids, you know,

[09:19] because they're college age. Let's talk

[09:21] about the charges now. He is going to be

[09:24] charged formally with aggravated murder.

[09:27] Most serious charge you can face in

[09:29] Utah. I mean, the facts are the facts

[09:32] here. If you're a defense attorney and

[09:35] Tyler Robinson ends up being your

[09:37] client,

[09:39] you know, good luck. That's all I can

[09:41] say. They they say they have DNA

[09:43] connecting him to this. They've got him

[09:45] on camera walking to this place. We now

[09:48] have this Discord message that we've

[09:51] been told he wrote where he says, "Yeah,

[09:53] it was me." There's video of him running

[09:55] away. DNA on the towel. Um DNA on the

[10:00] screwdriver. What do you do with this?

[10:04] >> This appears to be a tough case. I mean,

[10:06] as we all know, the things that come out

[10:09] early on, especially in probable cause,

[10:11] uh, affidavits and charging statements

[10:14] are always the state's best evidence.

[10:16] You know, we don't see the other

[10:18] evidence that, you know, may tend to

[10:22] disprove it. Now, in this case, it seems

[10:24] to be mounting very quickly and and

[10:26] that's the that's the age we live in,

[10:29] you know, anymore. There are very few

[10:31] places you can go where you can't get

[10:33] caught on camera. And these aren't these

[10:35] black and white grainy videos that we

[10:37] used to see that we couldn't identify

[10:39] people on, you know, and then kids, you

[10:42] know, like you said, we call him kids.

[10:43] He's an adult in the eyes of the law.

[10:46] Uh, you know, they they can't help

[10:48] themselves, but to communicate on these

[10:50] platforms and all of this communication

[10:52] is preserved. Uh, so in this case, it

[10:55] it's seemingly going to be a tough case.

[10:58] They're going to charge him with

[10:59] aggravated murder. I would be shocked if

[11:02] they don't seek the death penalty even

[11:04] though they don't have to make that

[11:05] election early on. This very well may be

[11:08] a case that does not revolve around

[11:11] guilt or innocence, but really resolves

[11:14] or really revolves around the penalty

[11:16] phase of this. You know, is there a way

[11:19] to keep the state of Utah from wanting

[11:21] to execute this kid if he is convicted?

[11:26] >> You know, Utah is a different state. Um,

[11:31] you know, it it seems to be a

[11:32] conservative state. Uh, but you know,

[11:35] Utah County is Utah County. The

[11:37] prosecutor there will handle this case

[11:40] the way he sees fit or you know, the the

[11:43] county attorney. Um, if you're the

[11:47] defense attorney in this case with all

[11:48] of the evidence and you're you're going

[11:49] to go through all of the the hoops,

[11:52] you're going to file motions to

[11:53] suppress, you're going to go through all

[11:55] of this stuff, you're going to look at

[11:56] this kid's mental health as far as

[11:59] mitigation goes. We don't know about any

[12:02] mental health issues, but I I wouldn't

[12:04] be surprised if there are some. Um,

[12:07] what, you know, where do you begin with

[12:09] this? I mean, obviously, you're going to

[12:10] get discovery. You're going to make the

[12:12] demand for discovery. I wouldn't be

[12:14] surprised if the defense attorney isn't

[12:15] just given what they have so far at at

[12:18] this appearance today, given a thumb

[12:20] drive or flash drive with something on

[12:22] it. They'll get it very quickly. In

[12:25] Utah, they have to turn over that

[12:27] initial discovery

[12:29] uh within a very short time period of

[12:32] individual being charged and being seen

[12:34] by a judge.

[12:36] You know, sure, you have to go through

[12:38] it. like you said, you're going to have

[12:39] to go through, you know, the DNA and the

[12:41] forensics and the video and they're

[12:44] probably going to have his phone and and

[12:46] all of this electronic data that you're

[12:49] going to have to get through. But

[12:50] really, you know, if I'm appointed on

[12:52] this case or whoever they appoint, the

[12:54] first thing I'm doing is hiring a

[12:56] mitigation expert. It's a death penalty

[12:58] case and from day one, they really start

[13:02] need they really need to start building

[13:04] a case to save this kid's life. I I

[13:07] really think that that is going to need

[13:10] be their first and foremost priority. Uh

[13:14] we've seen public officials,

[13:16] high-ranking public officials, uh

[13:19] already calling for the death penalty

[13:20] when we don't even have charges. And so

[13:23] this is really one of those cases where

[13:25] I think you have got to start doing the

[13:28] work now so that you know if he's

[13:32] convicted and and if the evidence is

[13:34] what it is, it's it's probably likely

[13:36] that the guilt phase is is going to be a

[13:39] foregone conclusion. But maybe not. Like

[13:41] I said, we we don't know at all. Uh, but

[13:44] really what you need to start doing is

[13:45] is building a case as to why this is,

[13:49] you know, potentially a life without

[13:50] parole case and not a death penalty

[13:52] case. This kid is innocent until proven

[13:54] guilty, of course, but it seems like

[13:57] we've got evidence of a lot of

[13:59] premeditation here. Uh, you know, we've

[14:02] got markings on the bullets. Seems like

[14:05] a Luigi Manion copycat to me. I mean,

[14:07] that takes some time to to put stuff on

[14:10] bullets with these so-called

[14:12] anti-fascist phrases on them and some

[14:15] furry stuff. I mean, it runs the gambit.

[14:17] There's some gamer things on there, too.

[14:19] Um, and then you've got him at dinner

[14:21] telling people how much he hates Charlie

[14:24] Kirk and apparently says in a message to

[14:27] somebody that he had the opportunity to

[14:29] take out Charlie Kirk, so he did it.

[14:32] I I mean, there you go. I mean that that

[14:35] is

[14:37] compelling compelling evidence. So, you

[14:41] know, you're saying you're you're as a

[14:43] defense attorney, you're trying to save

[14:45] this kid's life.

[14:46] >> Um, do you do you just and I know I'm

[14:49] fast forwarding here quite a bit. Do you

[14:52] go to the state of Utah and try to make

[14:54] a deal like let's I'll get him to plead

[14:57] you know he's going to plead guilty and

[14:59] then um you know take death off the

[15:03] table and he'll just wave all appeals

[15:05] like we saw in the Cobberger case. I was

[15:07] going to say we've seen this in in other

[15:09] cases over the years where really when

[15:11] it's a death penalty case then you know

[15:13] the state is going to want to seek the

[15:16] death penalty and and do so um you know

[15:21] pretty

[15:23] seriously. I think really what you do is

[15:26] try to

[15:28] get death off the table. Whatever it

[15:30] takes offer to plead. I don't know if

[15:34] this is a case unless the temperature

[15:36] comes down a whole bunch that there's

[15:38] going to be a plea deal in it, but you

[15:40] know, we don't know because we haven't

[15:42] seen all the evidence. I don't know if

[15:43] the state has seen all the evidence. I

[15:45] would guess this is probably ongoing. Uh

[15:48] but I think you do whatever you can in

[15:51] these types of cases uh to avoid the

[15:53] death penalty.

[15:55] >> And then we don't even know if he'll be

[15:56] charged federally. They're considering

[15:58] that.

[15:59] >> That's true. And and I think that'll be

[16:01] interesting to watch. I don't know if

[16:04] that's going to be one of those things

[16:05] where they hold off and maybe don't

[16:07] charge them federally and see what the

[16:09] state does and see how the state case

[16:11] progresses or as they build their case

[16:15] or build evidence and and we see this a

[16:18] lot where they file state charges and

[16:21] hold somebody. I see them in in gun or

[16:23] drug cases all the time. They'll they'll

[16:26] arrest someone on probable cause, charge

[16:28] them in the state. The feds will build

[16:30] their case, and then the feds will come

[16:32] in and file it, and you know, usually

[16:34] ultimately the the state case gets

[16:36] dismissed in favor of the feds, but they

[16:39] can both charge him with crimes. So,

[16:41] there's no double jeopardy when it comes

[16:43] to concurrent state and federal

[16:46] prosecutions. They don't generally do

[16:49] that. Um, but I would expect that the

[16:52] the the

[16:54] US attorney's office is going to wait

[16:57] and and see how all the evidence comes

[17:00] out, whether or not they have problems,

[17:03] what they can charge him with, and and

[17:04] really what Utah County is going to do

[17:06] with it. If Utah County is going to seek

[17:08] the death penalty and not offer this kid

[17:10] a deal, you know, the US Attorney's

[17:12] Office may look at this and say, "Hey,

[17:14] look, there's we don't we don't both

[17:16] need to pay to try to execute him.

[17:19] What's the mood like in Utah? I mean, I

[17:22] know you're not in Utah County, but my

[17:24] god, this happened in Utah.

[17:26] >> I'm not very far away. You know, I'm

[17:27] only 40 minutes from there. So,

[17:30] >> yeah,

[17:31] >> I think it's it's pretty similar to the

[17:33] rest of the country. I think uh there's

[17:36] a lot of sadness when any of this

[17:39] happens. This is been a very polarizing

[17:42] event. um our governor uh I think gave a

[17:46] talk on campus or to university students

[17:49] really calling for people to basically

[17:53] disagree better you know that there

[17:55] should be a safe open place for uh ideas

[18:00] uh and just because you disagree with

[18:02] somebody doesn't mean you hate them and

[18:05] doesn't mean you resort to violence but

[18:07] I think it's it's really instilled some

[18:10] fear and you you know, also because of

[18:14] uh the relationship with the roommate

[18:16] and uh whether or not he's trans, I

[18:19] think there's some concern for the LGBT

[18:22] community. I know there's been um some

[18:27] incidents within the last couple days

[18:29] targeting members of the press. Uh, and

[18:32] so I think whenever something like this

[18:34] happens and and Utah really is, uh,

[18:37] we're a big state, but we don't have a

[18:39] lot of people. And so, and most of these

[18:42] people are we're all concentrated in the

[18:44] Wasatch Front, which is, you know, Utah

[18:46] County, Salt Lake County. Uh, and so

[18:49] you're talking about a pretty small

[18:50] geographic area, and people here are

[18:52] pretty tight. And so when something like

[18:54] this happens, uh, people are a little

[18:57] fearful. I think people are a little

[18:59] concerned like we don't you never want

[19:02] to think something like this happens

[19:04] here. You know, we read about it

[19:06] happening other places, but here we are.

[19:10] >> Yeah. Just horrible. Um well, Skylazaro,

[19:13] thank you so much for coming on and for

[19:15] offering your thoughts and your

[19:16] expertise as always. I appreciate it.

[19:19] >> Thank you and thanks for having me. So

[19:21] right there, this investigation, it's

[19:23] really just starting and they are

[19:25] looking into whether Tyler Robinson was

[19:28] radicalized on the internet and whether

[19:30] anybody else had a role in this

[19:32] assassination. Tyler Robinson is going

[19:35] to be charged with aggravated murder and

[19:37] other crimes. And it's likely that the

[19:39] prosecutors will pursue the death

[19:41] penalty in this case. And that's it for

[19:43] this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anette

[19:45] Levy. Thanks so much for being with me.

[19:46] I'll see you back here next time.