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Sierra Gillespie Investigates Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Charlie Kirk's Murder and What Evidence Actually Shows
Sierra Gillespie examines the conspiracy theories circulating about Charlie Kirk's murder at Utah Valley University. From allegations of Israeli involvement to claims about trans terror cells and AI deep fakes, retired NYPD detective Tom Verie helps separate fact from fiction. With suspect Tyler James Robinson facing aggravated murder charges and the death penalty, this investigation cuts through the online speculation to focus on what investigators actually know about the shooting that killed the Turning Point USA co-founder during a campus speaking event.
The Facts of Charlie Kirk's Murder
Charlie Kirk was a conservative political activist who co-founded Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to engaging young people in politics and debate. Kirk was known for traveling across the country, primarily visiting college campuses to engage with students in direct political discourse.
On September 10th, 2025, Kirk was at Utah Valley University for a speaking engagement. Approximately 15 minutes into the event, while answering a question about mass shootings by transgender individuals, a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck Kirk in the neck, and he slumped to the ground almost immediately. The bullet's trajectory passed closely to several other individuals, including the questioner standing directly in front of Kirk. Children were visible near Kirk's stage when he was shot. Kirk was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared deceased.
The Arrest of Tyler James Robinson
What followed was a 36-hour manhunt that eventually led to the arrest of Tyler James Robinson. According to charging documents, evidence against Robinson includes incriminating texts, an incriminating note, testimony from his parents and a roommate, and an apparent motive.
Prosecutors say 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.
On September 10th, 2025, 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 the note.
After reading the note, the roommate responded, "What? You're joking, right?" Robinson replied, "I am still okay, my love, but I'm stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn't be long until I can come home, but I got to 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." The roommate said, "You weren't the one who did it, right?" And Robinson replied, "I am. I'm sorry."
Tyler James Robinson now faces seven charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, tampering with a witness, and violent offense committed in the presence of a child. Robinson has already appeared in court where prosecutors noted they plan to seek the death penalty.
Erika Kirk's Response
Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, has made several statements since her husband's death. Speaking from his set, she declared: "The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God's merciful love. But they should all know this. If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and in this world."
At Charlie's memorial service over the weekend, Erika Kirk announced she forgives Tyler Robinson. "My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life. That young man on the cross, our savior said, 'Father, forgive them for they not know what they do.' That young man, I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us."
Conspiracy Theories About Israeli Involvement
One of the prevailing conspiracy theories suggests that Israel was behind Charlie's murder. Tucker Carlson alluded to Israel in his eulogy at the memorial service, and others like Candace Owens also commented on potential Israeli involvement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back forcefully against these allegations. "Somebody has fabricated a monstrous big lie that Israel had something to do with Charlie Kirk's horrific murder. This is insane. It is false. It is outrageous," Netanyahu stated. "Charlie Kirk was a giant, a once-in-a-century talent who defended freedom, defended America, defended our common Judeo-Christian civilization."
Netanyahu continued: "Charlie loved Israel. He loved the Jewish people. He told me so in a letter that he sent me just a few months ago. One of my greatest joys as a Christian, he said, is advocating for Israel and forming alliances with Jews to protect Judeo-Christian civilization."
Netanyahu noted that a few weeks before his death, he spoke to Charlie and invited him to visit Israel again. "And sadly, that won't happen. Now, some are peddling these disgusting rumors, perhaps out of obsession, perhaps with Qatari funding. What I do know is this. Charlie Kirk was a great man and a great man deserves honor, not lies."
Foreign Government Involvement Theories
Other conspiracy theories include allegations that China, Russia, or Iran is behind misinformation campaigns related to the murder. The allegation regarding Russia is that media there is spreading misinformation about the facts of exactly what happened, all in an effort to make the United States appear more shaky or unstable in general.
The China theory is similar, suggesting that media there is focused on misinformation and alleged turmoil in the US, exaggerating the division between the far right and the far left. Iran allegations follow similar patterns, with some even adding the idea that Israel was a puppet master behind it all.
President Trump Involvement Theory
Additional conspiracy theories suggest that President Donald Trump was actually behind the murder, orchestrating Charlie's assassination as a way to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. President Trump has been very outspoken about the murder, giving multiple addresses condemning the violence.
"To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah," Trump stated. "Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America."
Trump continued: "It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year in the most hateful and despicable way possible. For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today."
At Charlie's memorial service, Trump spoke again about the tragedy: "Less than two weeks ago, our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times. A giant of his generation, and above all, a devoted husband, father, son, Christian, and patriot. Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth that was in his heart."
Trans Terror Cell Theory
Another conspiracy theory suggests that the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, was groomed by a trans terror cell. This theory is partially supported by etches found on one of the rounds discovered by investigators. One of them reads, "If you read this, you are gay, lmao." The theory is also perpetuated by Robinson's relationship with his roommate who was transitioning genders.
Fake Text Messages Theory
Some online theories claim that the text messages released by prosecutors between Robinson and his roommate are fakes. These texts, taken directly from charging documents, appear to show Robinson admitting to the murder. For example, the roommate asks "Why?" Robinson replies, "Why did I do it?" The roommate says, "Yeah." Robinson responds, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again. Hopefully, they've moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it."
Multiple Shooter Theory
Another theory suggests that Tyler Robinson wasn't acting alone. While prosecutors say that he was, some people point to videos from the event showing a person wearing a baseball cap pulling on the cap almost as if they're signaling someone. Some believe it was a signal to the shooter, giving them the go-ahead to pull the trigger.
Expert Analysis from Retired NYPD Detective
Retired NYPD detective Tom Verie provided expert analysis on these conspiracy theories and the investigation. "One of the first things we as investigators always want to make sure of is that the perpetrator is working alone or if they're working in concert with someone else or potentially a group, right? Especially we want to rule out any sort of terrorism," Verie explained.
Regarding the various conspiracy theories, Verie emphasized the importance of sticking to facts: "The thing is the most important thing to remember with these investigations is that we have to go with the facts and evidence. Facts and evidence. Facts and evidence. In this day and age we live in, it is very easy to just go off on a tangent and start a hundred thousand different conspiracy theories."
Verie addressed the various theories directly: "We could go crazy and make up a million different theories as to who did this and why it was done. To this day, what we know based again on the facts and evidence is that we have this one deranged individual."
On the impact of conspiracy theories on investigations, Verie noted: "It's good information takes investigators away from good solid information that they should be following up on. So we can now get this case wrapped up as quickly as possible."
AI and Deep Fake Concerns
Some people are speculating whether AI and deep fakes are involved in the case, suggesting that some of the evidence or footage may be artificially generated. Verie acknowledged this concern: "It's kind of scary. It's very easy for someone to just throw something up online these days. It's not all that difficult to make something up and just put it online, put it out there, and that thing goes viral."
He explained how this affects investigations: "What that does is now for the investigators when they're presented with bits and pieces of information or clips or whatnot, now it just takes time out for them to have to scrutinize this and run this through programs and algorithms to see if this is actually correct, if it's real, or if it isn't, if it's something that was just kind of thrown together."
The Path Forward
Tyler James Robinson has not yet entered a formal plea. He is set to appear in court again on September 29th, where he may enter a plea. The case continues to attract attention from across the political spectrum, with many seeking answers about what exactly happened and why.
As Verie concluded: "I wasn't a big follower of Charlie Kirk. I knew of him. I knew of some of the things that he talked about. I didn't necessarily agree with everything he talked about, but I certainly believe that he absolutely did not deserve to be assassinated or even injured for that matter because of what he was saying to people. That's just a road that we cannot go down in our society, in a free society."
The charges against Robinson remain: aggravated murder being the most severe. In the United States, the principle of innocent until proven guilty applies, and it remains to be seen what plea Robinson will enter and how the case will proceed through the legal system.
Video Transcript
The murder of Charlie Kirk. What exactly happened and why? The conspiracy theories online run the gambit from allegations that Israel is behind it. >> This is insane. >> To theories that President Donald Trump arranged it all. >> This is a dark moment for America. >> We're parsing through the conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's death. Which theories hold any weight and what others make no sense at all. This is Scandal presented by Law and Crime. I'm Sierra Gillespie. In the nearly two weeks since the murder of Charlie Kirk, there has been hundreds, if not thousands of stories about what exactly happened. We've seen updates in the case, charges brought, a court appearance, a memorial service, and so much rhetoric on social media. But still, we have so many questions. And honestly, there are many conspiracy theories about what exactly happened. So, on today's episode of Scandal, I'm going to walk you through them. Let's begin with the basics, though, and the facts as we know them right now. Charlie Kirk was a conservative political activist who co-founded Turningpoint USA, which is an organization that works to get young people involved in politics and engaged in debate. Now, Charlie was known to travel across the country, mostly visiting college campuses and engaging with students like this. >> No, I'm just curious. What has she done as vice president? That makes you be like, "That's my gal." >> What is the vice president's The vice president is just president of the Senate. They don't have much. >> Oh, that's interesting. If it's If it's just a ceremony role, why do we even have a VP? >> Well, that's not the point. I'm saying >> she was she was tasked to control the border. How is she done? The vice president doesn't the vice president doesn't control the border. >> They get they get they get portfolio projects from the president. She was given the portfolio project of the border. How was she done? [Music] >> Again, she doesn't make any individual. I don't think she makes a top down decision about the border. >> She made a decision to reverse 50 Trump executive orders. Do you think Kla Harris has done an objectively good job managing our border? >> No. Okay, I I appreciate the honesty. >> And that leads us to September 10th when Charlie was doing just this, traveling to yet another college campus for a speaking engagement. This time it was Utah Valley University. >> Wow, look at that. >> Beautiful. >> Look at that. [Applause] >> Let's give a little taste. >> And by now you know what happened. just referring to the court docs. Approximately 15 minutes into the event, Mr. Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings by transgender individuals when a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck Mr. Kirk in the neck. He slumped to the ground almost immediately. The bullet's trajectory passed closely to several other individuals beside Mr. Kirk, including the questioner who was standing directly in front of Mr. Kirk. Children were visible near Mr. Kirk's stage when he was shot. Mr. Kirk was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared deceased. What followed was a 36-hour manhunt and eventually the arrest of this man, >> Tyler James Robinson. >> According to charging documents, evidence against Robinson includes incriminating texts, an incriminating note, testimony from his parents and a lover/roommate, and an apparent motive. Prosecutors say 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 rightsoriented. She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders. On September 10th, 2025, 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 the note. After reading the note, the roommate responded, "What? You're joking, right?" Robinson replied, "I am still okay, my love, but I'm stuck in Orum for a little while longer yet. Shouldn't be long until I can come home, but I got to 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. The roommate said, "You weren't the one who did it, right?" And Robinson replied, "I am. I'm sorry." Tyler James Robinson now faces seven charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, tampering with a witness, and violent offense committed in the presence of a child. Now, Robinson has already appeared in court where prosecutors noted they do plan to seek the death penalty. We did file just recently within the last few minutes a notice of intent to seek the death penalty that was filed uh by Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray. So that should be in the court's file. Um lastly, I would just indicate uh to the court and to at this point, Mr. Robinson, that uh we are prepared to uh collect all of the discovery in this matter and get that turned over to the defense as soon as possible. And all of that could be an entire scandal episode unto itself. So, I guess we'll put a pin in that. But prosecutors at the first hearing also mentioned Charlie's widow, Erica Kirk. >> We have filed a pre-trial protective order on behalf of Erica Kirk. We would ask the court to review that. It should be in your queue, your honor, and sign that. >> Thank you. I have reviewed the pre-trial protective order and will be grant issuing uh this pre-trial protective order in favor of Erica Kirk. >> So, let's talk about Erica Kirk for a moment. She's made several statements since Charlie's death like this very one from his set. >> The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God's merciful love. But they should all know this. If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country. in this world. You have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battlecry. To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. >> At Charlie's memorial service over the weekend, Erica Kirk says she forgives Tyler Robinson. >> My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life. [Applause] [Applause] that young man, that young man on the cross, our savior said, "Father, forgive them for they not know what they do. That man that young man, I forgive him. Heat. Heat. [Applause] I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us. >> All of this leads us into the conspiracy theories about the case, some of which were perpetuated at the memorial service, including the potential allegation that Israel was involved. So, it's about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people and they hate it and they just go bonkers. They hate it and they become obsessed with making him stop. This guy's got to stop talking. We've got to shut this guy up. And I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamp lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus thinking about what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us? We must make him stop talking. And there's always one guy with the bright idea and I could just hear him say, "I've got an idea. Why don't we just kill him? That'll shut him up. That'll fix the problem." >> So this is one of the prevailing conspiracy theories that Israel was behind Charlie's murder. Tucker Carlson mentioned Israel in his eulogy and later on others like Candace Owens also commented on Israel, but the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back. Here's what he says. >> Somebody has fabricated a monstrous big lie that Israel had something to do with Charlie Kirk's horrific murder. This is insane. It is false. It is outrageous. Charlie Kirk was a giant, a once- ina century talent who defended freedom, defended America, defended our common Judeo-Christian civilization. Charlie loved Israel. He loved the Jewish people. He told me so in a letter that he sent me just a few months ago. One of my greatest joys as a Christian, he said, is advocating for Israel and forming alliances with Jews to protect Judeo-Christian civilization. He encouraged me to make the case directly to the American people about how vital Israel is to US national security. He told me, "The Holy Land is so important to my life, it pains me to see support for Israel slip away." Now, if Charlie disagreed with a policy of mine or a decision here and there, not only did I not mind, I welcomed it. This is the essence of Charlie. This is the essence of a free country. It's exactly what Charlie stood for. And I knew that his suggestions always came from the heart, from his love for Israel and from his love for the Jewish people. A few weeks before his death, I spoke to Charlie. I invited him to visit Israel again. And sadly, that won't happen. Now, some are peddling these disgusting rumors, perhaps out of obsession, perhaps with Qatari funding. What I do know is this. Charlie Kirk was a great man and a great man deserves honor, not lies. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk. May your memory be a blessing. >> Speaking of other countries, other conspiracy theories include the ideas that China, Russia, or Iran is behind a lot of misinformation and campaigns in that way. So, let's break down these theories by country. Starting with Russia. Now, the allegation here is that media in Russia is spreading misinformation about the facts of exactly what happened. All in an effort to make the United States appear more shaky or unstable in general. It's a similar theory in China that media there is focused on misinformation and alleged turmoil in the US, exaggerating the division of the far right and the far left. and Iran allegations are similar onto all of this, too. Even adding the idea that it was maybe Israel that was the puppet master in all of this, leading to Charlie Kirk's death. And once again, we played for you the response from the Israeli prime minister about all of the allegations that he or his country was behind the murder. There are additional conspiracy theories that another major leader, President Donald Trump, was actually behind it. And I once again want to note these are conspiracy theories stating that Trump orchestrated Charlie's murder all as a way to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Now, President Trump has been very outspoken about the murder, giving multiple addresses, including this one. >> To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America. He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people. He's a martyr for truth and freedom, and there has never been anyone who was so respected by youth. It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year in the most hateful and despicable way possible. For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today. >> President Trump also spoke at Charlie's memorial service over the weekend and he touched upon the so-called radicals once again. Less than two weeks ago, our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times. A giant of his generation, and above all, a devoted husband, father, son, Christian, and patriot. Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster for speaking the truth that was in his heart. He was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice for God and country. I call it the radical left. I call it sometimes the radical left lunatics. But Charlie didn't say that. He called it the left. He was probably right, but I can't help it. >> And this leads into yet another conspiracy theory that the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, was groomed by a trans terror cell. Now, this theory is supported by the etches found on one of the rounds discovered by investigators. One of them reads, "If you read this, you are gay, lmao." Now, this theory is slightly perpetuated by Robinson's relationship with his roommate. And that leads to yet another conspiracy theory that the text messages released by prosecutors are fakes. Now, I read a few of these messages out before, but they're texts between Robinson and his roommate where he seemingly admits to the murder. For example, the roommate says, "Why?" Robinson replies, "Why did I do it?" And the roommate says, "Yeah." Robinson says, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again. Hopefully, they've moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it." Another theory that Tyler Robinson wasn't acting alone. Prosecutors say that he was, but some people point to videos like this one. >> Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years? Counting or not counting gang violence. >> In that video, you can see the person wearing a baseball cap pulling on the cap almost as if they're signaling someone. And some people believe that it was a signal going to the shooter, giving them the go-ahad, the green light to pull the trigger. Needless to say, there are a lot of theories out there about what exactly happened. And I want to dig even deeper. So, let's hash it all out with today's guest. It's retired NYPD detective Tom Verie. Tom, thanks for coming on with us today. And I want to start with the main question. A lot of people are wondering, could this guy, could the defendant here be working with someone else? And investigators say no, it was just him. It was an isolated situation. How could they be so sure it was just him? >> Yeah. Thank you for having me. Uh so look, one of the first things we as investigators always want to make sure of is that the uh you know the perpetrator is working you know to make sure that they're either working alone or if they're working in concert with someone else or potentially a group, right? Especially we want to rule out any sort of terrorism. So that's one of the first things. So we'll throw out a wide net just to make sure that we can, you know, feel comfortable with the fact that the facts and evidence are pointing us to just one specific person versus five or 10 or 100 different people that we may be looking for because that that pre, you know, sort of creates a bigger issue, right? In that if it's a group of people, they could be spread out all over the place. They might not even be within that same state. It could be across the United States or maybe even out of the country. So that's always the biggest concern is that this act was not purported by someone or a group of people where we now have to search all five corners of the earth to track down each and every one of them. So to date, as far as I know, the facts and evidence are pointing to that it's this one specific person. One of the things that conspiracy theorists or maybe even just people online are pointing to is that there's a specific video of this rally on the campus in Utah and it shows this man who's wearing a baseball cap and he kind of, you know, pulls the hat almost as if this is the green light. Like, okay, now's the time to pull the trigger. What do you make of that video? Yeah. I mean, you know, if you go over the video of of that horrific and and you know, the shooting itself was just horrific to watch. And I I've seen a lot of horrific things in my time, but you know, of thousands of people that were there live watching this this event to witness this was just, you know, unbelievable. And if you watch all different angles from all different, you know, videos that were being taken that day, whether it be surveillance videos or cell phone videos, you're probably going to see a lot of things. And then if you start to, you know, piece together one thing with another, it might make it seem like there could be another angle or could be another shooter or other people involved. You know, the thing is the most important thing to remember with these investigations is that we have to go with the facts and evidence. Facts and evidence. Facts and evidence. In this day in Asia we live in, it is very easy to just go off on a tangent and and start a 100,000 different conspiracy theories. I saw this, I heard that, and I think I think that someone else may have been involved. And I've seen that on a lot of that online. I've seen a lot of people talking about, well, you know, Charlie Kirk was talking about that the government should release the unredacted Epstein files and because he was so outspoken about that that President Trump probably had him knocked off, you know, or uh this is the whole left wing of of the Democratic party. this is a conspiracy to knock off anyone who uh talks against, you know, their ideals or their their uh you know, the way that they feel things should be done in government uh by conservatives and whatnot. Again, we could go crazy and make up a million different theories as to who did this and why it was done. To this day, what we know based again on the facts and evidence is that we have this one deranged individual. what his political persuasion is, uh, who he grew up with and was socialized by. You know, the these are all part bits and parts of of the investigation itself. But at the end of the day, let's put the blame where it belongs, and that's on someone who was deranged, who had possession of weapons and did great damage with with that weapon. You brought up so many good things in that answer and I do want to highlight the facts that this is traumatic for the American public just to have to go through and you know read about someone was killed, someone was shot, but also the people who were there. One of the charges is in relation to something like this happening in front of children. So imagine not only just Charlie Kirk's children, but the children who are there, you know, these are young kids who are on a college campus to see something so horrific. I think number one, we got to highlight that. But number two, a couple of the theories that you brought up there. We've talked about other countries, whether President Trump was involved in this, um whether it's some sort of trans terror cell as the background. So, let's kind of parse through all of those. If we're talking about other countries, a big one that has been kind of flagged in all of this is maybe Israel. Maybe they were somehow involved in it, whether it was the prime minister or someone who was Israeli in general. Now, again, the Israeli prime minister has come forward and said, "I was pals with Charlie Kirk. This is a tragedy. We Israel had nothing to do with it. But what do you make about those allegations that maybe someone in Israel was pulling the strings? >> Yeah. I think what what what hap what I've seen happening online is that there are people who everyone has their own sort of u sort of take on on on what what took place there, right? Based on their own sort of political persuasion and based on their own beliefs and whatnot. So you're gonna have people on the right saying, "Well, this is a, you know, a trans terousel." I've never heard of such a thing as a transgender terasel. >> I hadn't heard of that either. >> Yeah. So that would be something new. Uh, you know, look, the the transgender community, whether you, you know, understand the whole concept of of gender identity or not, you know, this is a community that's been kicked to the curb six ways from Sunday, right? And you know I I don't understand quite frankly the whole you know I'm not of of transgender experience so I can't speak to that. However the these people are h human beings and you know the fact that someone does doesn't understand the fact that they identify differently than you do based on whatever parts accessories you have. You know that that's okay to not understand it. But to treat someone disparitly because of the way they identify their gender is is just not that's not what we should be doing here as as a people. Right? Having said that, on the flip side of the coin, when you have people who are identify themselves as conservatives, right, or far, you know, rightwing or far right-wing, they have a certain belief, whether it's based or rooted directly in their religion or based on the way that they have been raised to socialize to believe certain ways about, you know, the way this country should be operated or the way the country was founded and now we're no longer living in that type of society and so forth. Yeah. Everyone has their own different beliefs, but the you the bottom line is we all have to live here together. You know that we we can't be a United States of America when we're so greatly divided. And that that's the big problem here. We we can agree to disagree. Uh but again, as far as you know, this incident goes, we have to try to keep a a level mind about this and go with what we know with 101% certainty. you know, you know, going off on uh talking about this the Israeli government's involved or the Russians are involved or, you know, President Trump is involved or, you know, a radical group of of of uh, you know, transgender people are involved. I I I I can't I can't even go there as an investigator. It's it's almost against my nature to go there. I have to go with the physical and forensic and ballistic evidence as well as, you know, visual evidence, you know, with all the videotape that's been collected so far. And that's what I and as an investigator would be going with. That's what they out in Utah are going with. That that's the evidence that's been collected so far. And that's how you build a case to figure out who exactly was responsible. We want to know who was responsible. make sure that if there are other, you know, wing nuts out there that there isn't, you know, there aren't dangerous people still running around with some sort of agenda that we need to take a look at. >> And I do wonder if it makes it more difficult for investigators, the fact that you and I have just thrown out a couple of conspiracy theories or, you know, ideas that are out there on the internet about what could have happened going in a multitude of directions. And so, does that make it more tricky for investigators then? Because, first of all, this is a very high-profile case. A lot of people want justice. A lot of people want answers. And I know that the investigators on this are going to do their due diligence. They're going to go through, as you've said, we want to make sure it's not just this one defendant. Are there other people who are involved? All the things you've listed so far. So, I have faith that they would go through and make sure that they're, you know, covering all of their bases. And I'm wondering if these tips that are coming in about these potential conspiracy theories kind of muddy the waters and make it more difficult for investigators. >> Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, you know, the thing is when something like this, when any crime happens, the police always rely on and hope for good positive feedback from the public, right? With getting as much information as possible. If anyone saw anything, if anyone heard anything uh in relation to this incident, we want the public to respond with as much critical and and timely but concise and accurate information as possible. this way we can go and and check that lead. An investigation like this with with, you know, thousands of people who who bore witness to this unfortunate tragedy, you know, that that's a hell of an investigation to have to, you know, to have to go through. And you talk about multiple agencies as well, right? So now we're crossing over local, state, and federal lines here. So, it's a lot of people that have to investigate this one incident with many many people to talk to, lots of of physical and and and other types of evidence that have to be collected. So, this way we can sort of, you know, corroborate one thing against the other to make a solid case against whoever was responsible. So, for someone to go off and say, "Well, you know, I I I read something online that suggests that, you know, the Israelis might be involved, or I read something online that suggests there's a there's a big transgender terror cell." You know, all it's going to do is it's going to waste time and resources when they have no real solid evidence to to support that, right? So, it's good. It takes investigators away from good solid information that they should be following up on and and and you know connect that to another lead. So we can now you know get this this case sort of you know wrapped up as as quickly as possible. Although these these cases tend to go quite a while even even after the you know the rest has been made is still investigating. I mean, the magnitude of all of this, first of all, the number of witnesses that we have, and then additionally, all of the tips that are coming in, sheer point, they have to go through and make sure, you know, what is accurate, what is not, what is a real tip, and what is just this weird conspiracy theory. And one of the other theories that kind of is floating around out there too on the internet is that some of the text messages that have been released from the defendant here, Robinson, and his roommate or lover, the person that he was having relations with, I guess, um, these are fake text messages. They're not even real. And what's interesting is that I read through the texts straight from the charging documents. These are from prosecutors. These are, you know, court documents. That's where I got the text messages that are featured in this episode. And some people are saying, "Oh, these aren't even real. this this isn't what happened. I mean, what can you say to that? I mean, why would government officials put forth these, you know, text messages if they weren't real? >> Yeah. Again, I I think some of these theories are born out of um, you know, fear that some people are trying to make a a sort of slant this case towards one type of individual or group of individuals. uh you know, you know, text messages and phone calls and you know, all the stuff as far as the cell phones are concerned. You know, they're going to get pings off of of the different cell sites and and that's going to, you know, that's going to give us the evidence that we need as far as where the cell phones were and and and what was, you know, in location and to to geopoint that stuff together. And then, you know, they're going to have to subpoena all the different, you know, cell phone companies to get copies of whether it be phone calls or text messages and stuff that would be submitted into court. So you know those those things are all done through the court that these are subpoenas that are done to let's say for argument sake whether it be Verizon or AT&T or Google Fi and and then they you know they get that information back and then if that information is um you know submitted to the court so that's all done very officially right so that and that that's what I'm saying you know people just if people try to stick with you know the facts and how things are done in in an official police investigation and unfortunately there are just so many TV shows and movies that could, you know, lead you to believe that this is a great super conspiracy of some kind. When at the end of the day, what this was was that you had someone who was, you know, very well known in certain circles giving a very public speech and was was assassinated in broad daylight, right, by as far as we know at this time, one deranged individual with firearms and ammunition. That's what we know. Now during the course of the investigation based on facts and evidence, if there is something to lead us to believe or lead the investigators to believe that there is someone else who is intimately involved in this or a group of people, then by all means they will absolutely look to track down who that individual or individuals are to make sure that they are getting first of all the people responsible for this under arrest and and locked up, but to make sure that no other incidents occur. at the hands of of other potential like-minded people. >> Tom, I think you're doing a really good job of bringing us back to what we know right now at the time of this recording. Here are the facts that the government officials have provided us with. We keep going back to those, but the episode itself is about the conspiracy theories. So, we kind of have to talk about, you know, what ones get weight, what ones don't. But I think you're doing a good job of reminding us how investigators are treating all of this. And I guess that leads into one of my last questions kind of about a deep fake so to speak. Some people I mean on all walks of the internet you can find almost anything. This didn't happen. This is fake. Whatever. Who knows what people are saying online but some people are speculating whether this is a deep fake. Whether AI is involved and I know that you must have seen I've seen many different AI things not in regards to this but that look so realistic. We've seen you know crazy things where people can mimic the voices. I've had people send me my voice and I was like, I did not say those words. Where did this come from? And it was AI. And so I'm wondering if that makes things tricky too for investigators. I know they've got the best of the best on this FBI or whatever who can go through, but isn't that more difficult now that AI is so advanced? >> Yeah, it's it's it's it's kind of scary. uh you know and and that just sort of fuels when when people cuz if if you're like me, you know, I'll get on my cell phone and just you know, start scrolling just to kind of get quick headlines and and maybe a quick video snippet of something, right? So because I just don't have the time to sit there and really go through it and and and eagle eye when I'm watching to, you know, to think about whether or not this is, you know, an AI or deep fake or something, you know, that's not correct or not real. So So it's very easy for someone to just throw something up online these days. It's not all that difficult to make something up and just, you know, put it online, you put it out there, and that thing goes viral. And now people just, again, in their daily lives, everyone's busy. everyone's trying to go about their lives and and go to school, go go go to work or combination of both and live their lives. So, you don't have time to really scrutinize some of these things that are being put out there. So, if you're looking at it really quickly, it could absolutely seem like it's it's very real, right? So what that does is now for the investigators when they're presented with, you know, bits and of information or clips or whatnot, now it just takes time out for them to have to scrutinize this and run this through programs and and algorithms to see if this is actually correct, if it's real, or if it isn't, if it's something that was just kind of thrown together. And all that does is just the time it takes for them to be able to get through this investigation in in a timely and concise manner with all the correct actual information that they need to put the g you know a case together. So it's, you know, I would again I would advocate to people to take a step back, you know, take a breath, think for yourself, you know, for a second that what you're seeing in some of these videos, especially if it's not coming from a legitimate, you know, police or governmental source, that what you're seeing may not necessarily be completely accurate. and and most importantly to try to understand, you know, maybe viewpoints from different people from different sides that are coming at this. At the end of the day, I wasn't a big follower of Charlie Kirk. I knew of him. I knew of some of the things that he talked about. I didn't necessarily agree with everything he talked about, but I certainly believe that he absolutely did not deserve to be assassinated and and and or even injured for that matter because of what he was saying to people. that that's just a road that we cannot go down in in our society in in in a free society. >> And those are the allegations that are here that he was murdered. Those are the charges that Tyler Robinson now faces is murder. The most severe charge that we have here and that's kind of what we have to hang our hat on is that that's what prosecutors believe happened. And again, here in the United States of America, innocent until proven guilty. It remains to be seen what sort of plea he's going to enter. But those are the allegations here and that's what we have to go back to. And I think Tom, thank you so much for coming on today and reminding us about the facts that we do know because there really is so much misinformation out there about this case, the conspiracies, the different roads that you could head down. So, thank you so much for coming on and kind of setting the record straight. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> There are a lot of moving parts in this case in general, but that's just a look at some of what we do know right now and the conspiracy theories involving Charlie Kirk's death. So far, Tyler James Robinson has not entered a formal plea. He is set to appear in court again on September 29th, and he may enter a plea then, but we'll just have to wait and see. So, that's where today's scandal leaves us for now. For all the latest updates in this case and all things true crime, make sure to subscribe to our channel. And to connect with me on social media, like Instagram, find me at Sierra Gillespie and send us messages to at scandalcrime.com. Thanks again for watching today's episode. As always, I'm your host, Sierra Gillespie, and I'll see you next time.