Sheriff Nate Brooksby Details How Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Tyler Robinson Surrendered in Washington County

[00:00] We gave you 22 hours notice. You guys

[00:02] did a good job at showing up.

[00:04] Uh, do I You guys need any mic checks?

[00:07] Like I have four on me. You guys can

[00:09] talk to me.

[00:13] Anything good on mic checks?

[00:15] I've got four on me.

[00:17] Good.

[00:17] Okay. Uh, so I'm Sheriff Nate Brooksby,

[00:21] Washington County. Um, just starting

[00:23] with a couple preemptive things. So, um,

[00:26] what I'm going to be discussing is not

[00:28] anything to do with the ongoing

[00:29] investigation. We are not the lead

[00:31] agency. Um,

[00:34] uh, FBI, State of Utah DPS,

[00:38] Utah County, UVU, big big collective

[00:41] effort. Um,

[00:43] so, so our involvement, I I describe it

[00:47] as just a really long agency assist. So,

[00:50] we're not conducting the investigation.

[00:52] We're not doing interviews. Um, there

[00:55] are there I've been asked some questions

[00:57] and there's some that I'm just not going

[00:58] to answer. It's going to be focused on

[01:00] how we were able to get Tyler uh to

[01:03] voluntarily come and turn himself in at

[01:05] my office. That's that's going to be the

[01:06] scope of it. Um, I do want to touch on

[01:10] so I have a

[01:12] retired corrections deputy named Matt

[01:14] Robinson. Um, there was some initial

[01:17] news that to to the extent of ridiculous

[01:21] information out there that Matt Robinson

[01:23] is currently a deputy with the sheriff's

[01:25] office and he physically put handcuffs

[01:28] on his son, the suspect, and brought him

[01:29] into jail. That's completely false. Um,

[01:32] it just so happens that Tyler's father

[01:34] is Matt Robinson. Um, there was some

[01:38] information about a retired deputy. Uh,

[01:40] so somehow that got blurred in the media

[01:42] and and uh I just I want to make sure

[01:45] that we're walking that back as best we

[01:47] can because Matt Robinson, my retired

[01:48] deputy, has been receiving uh been

[01:51] harassed. Uh he's he's had to leave his

[01:53] house at this point. So whatever you can

[01:55] do to help walk that back, I'd

[01:57] appreciate it. His family would

[01:58] appreciate that. So getting into uh

[02:02] getting into the into the details. So,

[02:05] uh, obviously we knew, uh, Charlie Kirk

[02:07] was assassinated at UVU in the

[02:09] afternoon. Um, about a 33-hour manhunt

[02:12] ensued and, uh, I was winding down for

[02:16] the evening. And, uh, about, well, at

[02:19] exactly 8:02 on the 11th, I received a

[02:23] call from a friend of mine who happens

[02:24] to be a retired detective that worked

[02:27] for me for many years. Um, I didn't put

[02:29] that out there initially. I wanted to

[02:32] protect that individual as much as

[02:33] possible. Um, unfortunately in the court

[02:36] documents, which is standard, uh, he was

[02:38] referenced as a retired Washington

[02:40] County deputy. So, I didn't put that out

[02:43] there. It was in the court docs. I was

[02:45] trying to protect him in that

[02:46] information and just saying retired law

[02:48] enforcement in general. So, so I get a

[02:51] call from my friend and his his said,

[02:54] "Hey, how you doing?" Good. Good. And

[02:55] it's not, you know, he's been retired a

[02:57] few years. He he'll we'll call each

[02:58] other. It's not it's not unusual for me

[03:00] to get a call from him or vice versa.

[03:03] And at 8:02

[03:05] p.m. he calls me. Hey, I can tell his

[03:08] voice is kind of shaky. So, my first

[03:09] thought is who who died? Like, who who's

[03:12] he going to tell me that died? And then,

[03:13] uh and then I can't I couldn't fathom

[03:16] what actually came out of his mouth. So,

[03:18] he said, "Hey, um I know who I know who

[03:21] Charlie Kirk Shooter is. Um, I I know

[03:24] the family through religious association

[03:28] and uh he's in he's in Washington County

[03:31] now and we're working on trying to get

[03:35] him to come in voluntarily. During that

[03:37] phone call um some information was

[03:39] provided about Tyler uh potentially

[03:42] having some suicidal ideations was enter

[03:45] out to a remote area Washington County.

[03:47] Um the parents convinced him not to do

[03:49] that and uh you know conveyed that they

[03:52] would uh you know stand by him and help

[03:54] him help him u surrender peacefully.

[03:59] So at that point um that that phone call

[04:01] was a minute and 41 seconds. Um I

[04:05] immediately called Sheriff Mike Smith in

[04:06] Utah County who I knew was at the

[04:08] incident command in uh Utah County. So,

[04:12] for about 40 seconds, I'm I'm telling

[04:14] Sheriff Smith, "Hey, uh yeah, I I'm

[04:17] confident we have the shooter in

[04:18] Washington County. We're working on

[04:20] getting him to come in and surrender at

[04:22] my office." We we didn't have him yet.

[04:25] And uh after about 40 seconds, Sheriff

[04:28] Smith's like, "Wait, wait, what? What

[04:31] are you talking about?" So, he was he

[04:33] was shocked as I was to hear the news.

[04:35] And uh so I repeated myself. He said,

[04:38] "You know, how credible is it?" I said,

[04:39] "You know, I trust this this guy that

[04:41] called me with my life, and I I think

[04:43] it's time you need to get your your

[04:45] people, the lead investigators, uh,

[04:47] headed to Washington County."

[04:49] Uh, within the hour, um, my friend, uh,

[04:53] drove Tyler and his parents to my office

[04:56] where he was greeted by, uh, plane

[04:59] closed detectives. So that was part of

[05:01] the part of the deal is um Tyler knew it

[05:05] was just inevitable with all the law

[05:06] enforcement pressure that he you know

[05:08] his picture in the news the gun the gun

[05:10] on the news he knew it was inevitable uh

[05:12] that he would be caught. He was fearful

[05:15] of a SWAT team hit on his house or he

[05:17] was fearful of being shot by law

[05:19] enforcement. So part of the negotiation

[05:22] and getting him to bring himself in was

[05:24] that that we would we would treat it as

[05:27] delicate and as soft as possible to make

[05:31] him feel comfortable to where he would

[05:32] he would show up at my office. And

[05:34] that's exactly what happened. Um so

[05:37] since we weren't the leading lead agency

[05:39] basically it was about a two and a half

[05:41] hour waiting in a room not not

[05:43] communicating with the the suspect. Our

[05:45] job was not to interview. Our job was

[05:47] just to get him here. So after about two

[05:49] and a half hours, uh we end up getting

[05:51] federal agents and state agents in and

[05:54] and uh uh some of my detectives were

[05:57] asked to go out into the community and

[05:59] secure two locations. So the parents

[06:01] home and the apartment that uh Tyler was

[06:04] living in along with the the vehicle

[06:07] that Tyler was uh likely driving um up

[06:10] up at UVU. So that's about it.

[06:15] Sheriff, how would you characterize that

[06:17] former law enforcement friend of yours

[06:20] uh as a uh doing something good here?

[06:23] Yeah, outstanding. He deserves full

[06:25] credit. Um

[06:27] I I I think that a lot of it it's just

[06:29] that the community relations, right? So,

[06:32] um Tyler's family trusted this

[06:35] individual. They knew he was involved in

[06:37] law enforcement at some point and enough

[06:41] uh community involvement there that they

[06:43] trusted that they could go to this

[06:45] individual and he could contact me

[06:47] directly and that we could facilitate a

[06:51] peaceful, calm,

[06:53] relaxed surrender, put put it that way,

[06:55] right? Make him comfortable for a couple

[06:58] hours, make sure he has water, no

[07:00] communication until the lead

[07:01] investigators arrived. So,

[07:03] sheriff, you mentioned you got a call

[07:04] from a retired detective. What went

[07:05] through your mind in that moment when he

[07:07] when he told you what what was about to

[07:09] happen? How did you negotiate with with

[07:12] Tyler or his his family?

[07:14] What were your first impressions when

[07:16] So shock, right? So I I I said I

[07:18] couldn't have couldn't imagine uh the

[07:20] conversation that occurred in that

[07:21] minute and 41 second conversation. U but

[07:24] there was negotiation. There was some

[07:26] some criteria that needed to be met for

[07:28] him to voluntarily come in and I agreed

[07:30] to those terms. Um

[07:32] what did he ask? What can I ask? uh he

[07:35] ba basically for for a a peaceful,

[07:38] gentle, comfortable transition for him

[07:41] to come out. Again, he he knew he was

[07:43] going to get caught. He didn't want a

[07:44] big SWAT team hitting his parents house

[07:46] or his apartment. Uh he he was truly

[07:49] fearful of being shot by law

[07:50] enforcement. Um so that the conditions

[07:52] were as relaxed and comfortable and

[07:55] almost to the point of, you know,

[07:57] inviting. And if if if at the end of the

[08:00] day the the we accomplish him

[08:04] surrendering peacefully on his own, I'm

[08:06] going to I'm going to make some

[08:07] concessions to make that happen.

[08:08] And what was his mood when when you

[08:10] first saw him?

[08:11] I would describe it as quiet and somber.

[08:14] So not talkative, just No.

[08:17] Go ahead.

[08:18] Um there's been reports that this family

[08:20] friend was also potentially a youth

[08:22] pastor or connected through the church.

[08:24] Is that the

[08:24] No, no church leadership, just in

[08:26] association through the their religious.

[08:29] Was this somebody in the ward LDS ward?

[08:31] Uh yeah, I would say that but not not in

[08:33] leadership. Uh unfortunately um the the

[08:36] bishop of that ward has been drugged

[08:38] into it because of some of the media

[08:39] reporting. Um

[08:42] so that but that's not accurate. That's

[08:44] not accurate.

[08:45] Oh, about the bishop?

[08:46] Yeah, the bishop wasn't involved in

[08:47] this.

[08:48] The uh you're not releasing the identity

[08:50] then the family for

[08:52] No, absolutely not. if you can speak to

[08:54] it. Did the sheriff's office have any

[08:55] interaction with Tyler Robinson in

[08:57] previous incidents?

[08:58] Um I've been asked that a few times. So

[09:00] the it's well known it's in the media.

[09:02] Uh Tyler's apartment was in St. George

[09:04] city limits. The parents home was in

[09:06] Washington city limits. So since the

[09:08] sheriff's office is primarily

[09:10] uh patrolling small rural communities,

[09:13] the unincorporated areas of the county,

[09:15] um if there were any calls to the

[09:17] residents in St. George City, it would

[09:20] the highest probability that just St.

[09:21] George City would handle that. not the

[09:23] sheriff's office. So, I don't have any

[09:25] data that would support that one way or

[09:27] the other.

[09:28] Sheriff, did you uh have you interviewed

[09:30] his roommate, Robinson's room?

[09:32] No, we're not we're not the lead

[09:33] investigators, so we wouldn't be doing

[09:34] that.

[09:35] Sheriff, how would you characterize the

[09:36] parents of what you knew that night?

[09:38] I don't know anything about him.

[09:39] Were they mentioned in the phone calls?

[09:40] Nope.

[09:41] Sheriff, how do you feel about the fact

[09:43] that this was this surrender happened as

[09:45] it was in the police office? at at

[09:47] police station. It kind of was peaceful,

[09:49] inviting as you framed it and not like a

[09:51] SWAT situation or a big operation that

[09:53] had to happen in the neighborhood,

[09:54] right? That so that that that made him

[09:56] comfortable enough the conditions were

[09:58] were satisfactory to him to where he

[10:00] ended up um getting a ride with my

[10:03] friend to be dropped off here. Uh we did

[10:05] have some initial discussion uh

[10:07] internally. So I run the county jail and

[10:10] we we have to think ahead. So So what if

[10:12] Tyler ends up staying the night in our

[10:14] facility? What does that look like?

[10:16] um because of the circumstance, he he

[10:18] was driven to Utah County that night

[10:20] about I'm going to say maybe about 2:00

[10:22] in the morning. So that that took that

[10:25] uh weight off us on how we're going to

[10:26] keep him safe in our facility and

[10:28] talking about constant supervision and

[10:30] things like that, but that that didn't

[10:32] occur. Um yeah. So

[10:35] how did you feel about that? You know,

[10:36] having a surrender at the police office

[10:38] versus something else.

[10:39] Well, obviously it was a it was a big

[10:41] deal, you know, not only national but

[10:43] international. you're seeing you're

[10:45] seeing people mourning all over the

[10:46] world for Charlie Kirk and uh to have

[10:50] that happen um you know I've had

[10:53] thoughts and heard comments about you

[10:55] know this this kind of stuff doesn't

[10:56] happen in Utah you know unfortunately it

[10:59] did but then to have the suspect be a

[11:02] Utah resident who literally went to the

[11:04] same high school I went to I mean we're

[11:06] like 30 years apart but I I went to the

[11:08] same high school he happened to go to

[11:09] the same high school here in Washington

[11:11] County. So, it's a it's a it's a a

[11:14] double shock factor that one one in Utah

[11:17] and then the suspect happened to be

[11:20] homegrown Washington County boy. So,

[11:22] what time did he get here?

[11:24] Uh, it was just before 9:00 p.m.

[11:25] And what did you do once he got here?

[11:27] Did you put him in handcade

[11:31] water, made him comfortable, sitting on

[11:32] a couch in an interview room and just

[11:34] sat just sat on him until the the lead

[11:37] investigators came in.

[11:38] So, his parents get to say anything?

[11:41] No, not again. It that that was not our

[11:44] place to ask questions. Um it was just

[11:46] we have you here. It's a we're in a

[11:49] holding pattern until the lead

[11:50] investigators get here. So we wouldn't

[11:52] that wouldn't be in our wheelhouse. We

[11:54] wouldn't even have attempted to

[11:55] interview any of them.

[11:57] Sheriff, can you provide some more

[11:58] details about this detective and friend

[12:00] of yours? Retired detective. Was he a

[12:02] member of your homicide unit? Violent

[12:03] crime.

[12:04] He was a detective. He was for many

[12:06] years he was a detective. So, um, in our

[12:09] in our agency, our detectives, like some

[12:11] cities, you you know, you have detective

[12:13] just working homicides or just working

[12:15] sex offenses. Ours is all-encompassing.

[12:17] Whatever case comes next, and you have

[12:19] the the smaller case load, you're going

[12:21] to get, whatever case that is.

[12:22] How long has he been out of force?

[12:24] Um, about three years.

[12:27] How grateful are you are you the fact

[12:29] that they said it the way it did and not

[12:31] in a violent outcome?

[12:32] Oh, very, very, very much. Like I said,

[12:34] concessions were made to make that

[12:36] happen. So if again peaceful surrender

[12:39] make him comfortable um you know he he's

[12:42] accused of a horrific crime so it's kind

[12:44] of odd some to be in that you know

[12:48] again accused of a horrific crime but

[12:50] then we are treating him very civily

[12:55] humanely and that's just part of the job

[12:58] that's we do that on a regular basis try

[13:00] to um make people comfortable um so

[13:03] they're relaxed and and uh not bombard

[13:05] them with with negativity or or you know

[13:09] a hammer fist or stormtrooper type

[13:11] approach. We we wouldn't do that.

[13:13] Sheriff, how many total phone calls were

[13:15] made between you and the retired

[13:16] detective?

[13:17] Um

[13:19] there were several follow-up phone calls

[13:20] that night. Uh one one was to to well

[13:24] between my command staff and uh my

[13:26] friend just uh them letting me know,

[13:28] hey, he is in he is in the building. We

[13:30] have him in an interview room. Um and

[13:32] there's there's been several follow-ups

[13:34] since then. just me checking in in on

[13:36] him and

[13:37] all the way from that first call to say

[13:38] we're here kind of a phone call.

[13:40] Correct. Correct.

[13:42] Prior prior to his uh prior to him

[13:44] turning himself in, did you guys have

[13:46] any clue that maybe he was in the

[13:48] Washington area at all? No. All the tips

[13:50] were not even not even a hint. That and

[13:53] that was part of the shock factor,

[13:54] right? Is he could have been anywhere.

[13:56] You know, mo most people that are

[13:58] involved or accused of things like that,

[14:01] uh they'd want to get out out of the

[14:02] area as soon as possible. So the fact

[14:05] that he came home basically was part of

[14:08] the shock factor. I think

[14:09] you said he was afraid of being shot.

[14:11] What did he say exactly? How did he

[14:12] express that?

[14:13] Just that.

[14:16] Any concern?

[14:17] Just just that. Yeah, he was af he one

[14:21] of his fears of being shot by the

[14:22] police. Period. That's it. That's

[14:24] Was your friend that said that or was

[14:25] that

[14:25] uh that my friend conveyed that to me

[14:27] through that through conversation with

[14:28] Tyler's parents. Any concern for the

[14:31] family and the roommate safety when if

[14:33] and when they come back to their home in

[14:34] Washington city or in St. George? Any

[14:36] concerns for

[14:37] No, abs. Absolutely. They they need to

[14:39] lay low for a long time unfortunately.

[14:41] So even um I'll throw this out there. I

[14:43] have a second cousin with the last name

[14:45] Robinson. He happens to be an

[14:46] optometrist in town and uh he's his

[14:48] office has been receiving threatening

[14:50] phone calls just because of his last

[14:52] name. So, so to put somebody in in that

[14:55] kind of uh burd burdensome situation

[14:58] when they had nothing to do with it, no

[15:00] relation to the family, just just think

[15:02] about how the actual individuals

[15:03] involved in this incident are feeling

[15:05] right now.

[15:06] Are you placing any deputies at their

[15:07] house, outside their house, anything

[15:09] like that?

[15:09] So, that's not our area patrol. So, the

[15:11] the cities would handle that if if that

[15:13] request

[15:15] came in. Um, but I don't I don't have

[15:18] any insight there. Sheriff, can you

[15:20] describe the handoff that occurred from

[15:22] Tyler Robinson to the authorities that

[15:24] came down from the north?

[15:25] Yeah, they parked in my parking lot. Oh,

[15:26] wait. The the the lead investigators.

[15:29] So, by the time they they they were in

[15:30] town, uh Tyler was Tyler was sitting in

[15:32] an interview room with his parents when

[15:34] they arrived. So, they were already in

[15:36] this building um when the lead

[15:39] investigators arrived.

[15:40] And how did that hand out go down? Was

[15:41] he handcuffed? Was he?

[15:42] No, he was he was sitting on a very

[15:45] comfortable couch with a water bottle in

[15:47] his hand, not restrained. He was he was

[15:49] again cooperative, somber, quiet.

[15:53] Sheriff, since then, what has this whole

[15:55] ordeal been like for your county in your

[15:57] office?

[15:57] Um, I've all of a sudden received a lot

[15:59] of media requests. So, that's that's

[16:01] what's changed in my world.

[16:03] So, the parents were in the room in the

[16:05] interrogation room.

[16:06] Correct.

[16:07] Correct. That was part of part part of

[16:08] the part of the negotiation to get him

[16:09] here is that the parents would would uh

[16:12] be with him when he arrived.

[16:13] Can you explain the last moments that

[16:14] they did they hug? Did they was mom

[16:16] crying?

[16:17] I don't I don't have any detail on that.

[16:18] I'm sorry.

[16:21] And he was turned over to FBI or state

[16:24] uh it's a it's a joint uh investigation

[16:27] between the FBI and the state of Utah

[16:29] primarily. A lot of I mean anytime

[16:31] anything this large scale happens, it's

[16:33] all hands on deck. So, we're going to

[16:35] need a lot of, you know, just covering

[16:37] the campus and securing the crime scene

[16:38] up north. Um, we've had, you know,

[16:40] active shooter incidents down here

[16:42] recently where every every law

[16:44] enforcement wearing every uniform in the

[16:46] county is going to go to those types of

[16:47] scenes.

[16:48] And just to be clear, he was not

[16:50] handcuffed when he was

[16:51] correct. He was not handcuffed.

[16:53] Did the sheriff's department help secure

[16:55] the perimeter

[16:56] office? Excuse me. Thank you.

[16:58] The office, didn't you help secure the

[17:00] perimeter or the

[17:01] Yes.

[17:02] So since the lead uh the lead

[17:04] investigators were, you know, 3 hours

[17:05] north of us, it took them a while. So

[17:07] that was an again I describe it as an

[17:09] agency assist um we went and just

[17:12] secured the homes. Uh we didn't search

[17:15] the homes. We didn't communicate with

[17:16] anyone within the homes. It was just we

[17:19] were just locking things down uh until

[17:21] they arrived.

[17:22] That was Thursday night.

[17:24] Yes.

[17:24] Thursday night.

[17:25] Yep.

[17:28] Is the roommate in protective custody or

[17:30] I don't have any comment on that.

[17:32] How would you characterize the

[17:33] interactions between the parents Tyler

[17:37] and Tyler in the in the time that they

[17:39] were sitting here?

[17:41] They were together. That was it. I don't

[17:43] I can't point to any emotion or body

[17:47] language or anything to that. They were

[17:48] just with him. So,

[17:51] was he recorded in that room?

[17:54] Uh all all our interactions in that room

[17:56] are recorded.

[17:57] I know there was some discussion of him

[17:59] being potentially suicidal instead of

[18:02] surrendering when he was in this in the

[18:04] holding room here. Any concern about

[18:06] that?

[18:06] No.

[18:13] Okay. We can sit here and stare at each

[18:15] other all day or we can be done.

[18:17] Good. Okay. Thank you. The universe.