Tyler Robinson Arrested for Alleged Politically Motivated Killing of Conservative Influencer Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University

[00:01] An alleged killer motivated by his own

[00:04] political beliefs took the life of

[00:06] someone who is voicing theirs.

[00:07] 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is now in

[00:10] custody in Utah. His time on the run

[00:12] lasted 33 hours. Law enforcement says it

[00:15] was his family who turned him in. He

[00:17] allegedly left behind key pieces of

[00:19] evidence, including inscriptions on

[00:20] bullet casings that allegedly show his

[00:23] motivation and also that he was someone

[00:25] who spent a lot of time in some twisted

[00:28] corners of the internet. Let's break

[00:30] down what those inscriptions mean and

[00:32] how they could impact his legal case.

[00:34] We're on the case presented by Law and

[00:36] Crime. I'm Chris Stewart.

[00:38] [Music]

[00:44] Now that we know that law enforcement

[00:46] say 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is the

[00:48] person responsible for shooting and

[00:50] killing conservative influencer Charlie

[00:52] Kirk, we are learning a lot about

[00:54] Robinson's background and specifically

[00:57] that he is a young man who spent a lot

[00:59] of time on the internet. So here are

[01:00] some of the other things we know about

[01:02] Robinson before I get into those

[01:03] inscriptions and what they mean.

[01:05] Robinson lived with his family in

[01:07] southwestern Utah, more than 3 hours

[01:09] away from the campus of Utah Valley

[01:11] University where the shooting took

[01:13] place. We have video from outside his

[01:15] family home and the gray Dodge

[01:16] Challenger that authorities say he drove

[01:19] to the shooting and escaped with still

[01:21] parked outside. Police say it was his

[01:23] parents who saw the person of interest

[01:26] images that the FBI put out and they

[01:28] realized that Tyler Robinson, their son,

[01:30] may be the killer. His family confronted

[01:33] him and turned him over to law

[01:34] enforcement. According to Spencer Cox,

[01:36] the governor of Utah, Tyler Robinson in

[01:39] some ways confessed or at least inferred

[01:42] that he was the person responsible when

[01:44] speaking to his dad. His dad also then

[01:47] called a youth pastor who helped take

[01:49] Tyler to a police station so he could

[01:51] face charges for what he allegedly did.

[01:53] Now, let's get to the case against Tyler

[01:56] Robinson. Law enforcement says that he

[01:58] arrived on the campus of UVU before noon

[02:01] September 10th. Then he fired one shot

[02:03] from the top of a building roughly 200

[02:05] yards away from Charlie Kirk about a

[02:06] half hour later. Then he escaped,

[02:08] jumping off of a building, running to a

[02:10] wooded area, leaving behind the rifle he

[02:12] allegedly used in the attack and driving

[02:14] in that Dodge Challenger back to

[02:17] southwestern Utah. This is the video

[02:19] that was released of now who we believed

[02:22] to be Robinson jumping from that

[02:24] building and running away. The rifle

[02:26] that was found, this boltaction,

[02:28] high-powered rifle that had a scope, was

[02:30] wrapped in a towel left in a bush.

[02:33] Investigators say inscriptions were

[02:35] engraved on the casings found with the

[02:37] rifle. Here's how they were described by

[02:39] Utah Governor Spencer Cox. So, the area

[02:42] north of Campus Drive Road where the

[02:44] suspect crossed over, you saw some of

[02:46] that in the video that we released last

[02:48] night, consists of a grassy area with

[02:50] trees on the edge of the UVU campus.

[02:53] Investigators discovered a bolt-action

[02:55] rifle wrapped in a dark colored towel.

[02:58] The rifle was determined to be a Mouser

[03:00] model 9830 6 caliber 306 caliber

[03:04] bolt-action rifle. The rifle had a scope

[03:06] mounted on top of it. Investigators

[03:09] noted inscriptions that had been

[03:10] engraved on casings found with the

[03:13] rifle. Inscriptions on a fired casing

[03:16] read, "Notices bulges capital O. What's

[03:22] this question mark? Inscriptions on the

[03:24] three unfired casings read, "Hey,

[03:27] fascist exclamation point, catch

[03:30] exclamation point." Up arrow symbol,

[03:33] right arrow, and uh symbol, and three

[03:36] down arrow symbols. A second unfired

[03:39] casing read, "O Bella Chow, Bella Chow,

[03:42] Bellachchow, Chow Chow." And a third

[03:45] unfired casing read, "If you read this,

[03:47] you are gay." L M A O. This is a lot to

[03:51] take in and understand, but let me try

[03:54] to break it down for you because for me

[03:55] it was a lot to take in as well. So the

[03:57] first one is noticees bulge ow. What's

[04:01] this? Now this is a reference to a meme

[04:03] on the internet and the account know

[04:05] your meme on X put this out saying that

[04:08] this was the original post that this

[04:11] reference is known for that then went

[04:13] viral and this group know your meme

[04:16] explained what it actually means. Now

[04:18] for our purposes I'll say this. It is

[04:20] used on the internet to troll people and

[04:22] make fun of people. Part of the furry

[04:24] and anime community and also for our

[04:27] purposes. This just really shows that

[04:29] Robinson was into the deep corners of

[04:31] the internet and spent a lot of time

[04:33] online. Now, the next casing allegedly

[04:35] read, "Hey fascist, catch this." And it

[04:38] was followed with an up arrow symbol, a

[04:39] right arrow symbol, and three down arrow

[04:42] symbols. Now, those arrows could be

[04:44] associated to a video game. It's what

[04:46] you would reportedly use to have some

[04:49] sort of combination in a game that's

[04:50] called Hell Divers 2, which is a

[04:52] thirdperson shooter video game that was

[04:54] released last year. And again, this is

[04:57] another example that Tyler Robinson just

[04:58] spent a lot of time online and glued to

[05:01] screens. Another unfired casing

[05:04] reportedly said something that plays

[05:06] into the politics potentially behind

[05:08] this motivation. Oh, Bella Chow,

[05:10] Bellachow, Bella Chow, Chow Chow. Those

[05:13] are lyrics to a song that was sung by

[05:16] members of the Italian resistance who

[05:18] fought against occupying Nazi forces

[05:20] during World War II. In the United

[05:22] States, it's become a rallying cry for

[05:24] anti-fascist groups which often sing

[05:27] that song during protests. Now, the last

[05:30] unfired casing allegedly read, "If you

[05:32] read this, you are gay. L M AO." These

[05:36] casings are key pieces of evidence in

[05:38] proving that this was an alleged

[05:40] politically motivated attack beyond the

[05:42] fact that Charlie Kirk was a political

[05:44] figure speaking at a political event.

[05:46] Now, speaking of internet activity,

[05:48] investigators also say during this

[05:50] investigation, they found Robinson's

[05:52] roommate who said that Tyler made a joke

[05:55] on the platform Discord and he showed

[05:57] the messages to members of law

[05:59] enforcement. The affidavit reads that

[06:01] Tyler allegedly stated that he needed to

[06:03] quote retrieve a rifle from drop point,

[06:06] leaving the rifle in a bush, messages

[06:08] related to visually watching the area

[06:10] where a rifle was left, and a message

[06:12] referring to having left the rifle

[06:14] wrapped in a towel. The messages also

[06:17] refer to engraving bullets and a mention

[06:19] of a scope and the rifle being unique.

[06:22] Messages from the contact Tyler also

[06:24] mentioned that he had changed outfits.

[06:27] Here's what the governor said about how

[06:29] they tracked Tyler Robinson down.

[06:31] >> On the evening of September 11th, a

[06:34] family member of Tyler Robinson reached

[06:36] out to a family friend who contacted the

[06:39] Washington County Sheriff's Office with

[06:41] information that Robinson had confessed

[06:44] to them or implied that he had committed

[06:46] the incident. This information was

[06:48] relayed to the Utah County Sheriff's

[06:50] Office and scene investigators at Utah

[06:52] Valley University. This information was

[06:55] also conveyed to the FBI. Investigators

[06:58] reviewed additional f video footage from

[07:01] UVU surveillance and identified Robinson

[07:04] arriving on UVU campus in a gray Dodge

[07:06] Challenger at approximately 8:29 a.m. on

[07:10] September 10th in which he is observed

[07:13] on video in a plain maroon t-shirt,

[07:15] light colored shorts, a black hat with a

[07:18] white logo, and light colored shoes.

[07:20] When encountered in person by

[07:22] investigators in Washington County on

[07:24] September 12th in the early morning

[07:25] hours, Robinson was observed in

[07:28] consistent clothing with those

[07:30] surveillance images. Investigators

[07:33] interviewed a family member of Robinson

[07:35] who stated that Robinson had become more

[07:37] political in recent years. The family

[07:40] member referenced a recent incident in

[07:42] which Robinson came to dinner prior to

[07:44] September 10th. And in the conversation

[07:47] with another family member, Robinson

[07:49] mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to

[07:51] UVU. They talked about why they didn't

[07:54] like him and the viewpoints that he had.

[07:56] The family member also stated Kirk was

[07:58] full of hate and spreading hate. The

[08:01] family member also confirmed Robinson

[08:03] had a gray Dodge Challenger.

[08:05] >> All right, joining us now is retired

[08:07] homicide sergeant Troy Hillman. Thank

[08:09] you for taking the time to be with us on

[08:10] Law and Crime. Uh, as we're we're

[08:12] learning more now about Tyler Robinson,

[08:14] the suspect accused of killing Charlie

[08:16] Kirk. You have profiled killers in your

[08:18] career. What stands out to you about

[08:20] Tyler Robinson?

[08:22] >> Um, I think somebody obviously uh with a

[08:25] political agenda um and obviously not

[08:28] concerned about uh getting caught. Um

[08:32] and they it seemed like he definitely

[08:35] wanted to send a message.

[08:36] >> Yeah. especially let's let's go over

[08:38] some of the the engravings. Um because I

[08:41] I was able to, you know, kind of

[08:43] comprehend the Bella Chow references,

[08:46] you know, related to World War II and

[08:48] then that's something that we've heard a

[08:49] little bit more of um in recent years

[08:52] during protests. Um but some of the

[08:55] other like these are seem like very deep

[08:57] internet references. What stands out to

[08:59] you?

[09:01] Yeah, I mean it definitely there were

[09:03] some references to uh the subculture,

[09:06] the the furries. Um and there was a

[09:09] reference to uh video game uh I believe

[09:12] it was it was Hell Diver.

[09:14] >> Um and then it spoke of of a younger a

[09:18] younger person to me when I first saw

[09:21] those things. Um and to include the

[09:24] although Bella Bellachow was a little

[09:26] bit uh of a timeless reference.

[09:29] >> Yeah. And you know, I I think there's

[09:31] there's a comparison people are are

[09:33] drawing to Luigi Manion because you have

[09:35] the engravings on bullets and and he

[09:37] allegedly engraved bullets with his

[09:40] motive um in in that case very somewhat

[09:43] different situation. But as a profiler,

[09:46] when you see someone, I mean, what makes

[09:49] the type of person who not only would do

[09:51] this, but didn't seem to be afraid that

[09:54] they would get caught and and face the

[09:57] consequences for this? I think uh this

[10:00] person was so uh and again I'm I'm not a

[10:03] profiler. Um I spent uh 24 years in

[10:06] investigations. Um and we did work

[10:08] closely with profilers uh chasing serial

[10:10] killers and and homicide suspects. Um

[10:13] but some somebody like this I I think is

[10:16] just so driven in their mind and

[10:17] justified that uh I guess the word

[10:20] radicalized comes to mind. Uh they they

[10:23] don't really worry about I don't think

[10:26] of getting caught. Um, so they're they

[10:28] just want to send a message. Um, but I'm

[10:30] always uh cautious to say, hey, let's

[10:33] not this this could be uh these clues

[10:36] left by, you know, said person could

[10:38] could let's not jump on them and and

[10:40] jump to conclusions because they could

[10:41] be uh throwing us off, trying to steer

[10:43] us in another direction. So, it's always

[10:46] uh it's you need to keep an open mind.

[10:48] Um but subsequently they've arrested

[10:51] this individual and uh information is is

[10:54] starting to come out on on his

[10:56] background.

[10:58] >> When you look at how this played out and

[11:01] he was able to for 33 hours be at large

[11:05] and and made it to southwestern Utah

[11:08] back to his family's house. um what type

[11:11] of planning

[11:14] does it take to put together this type

[11:16] of attack where then also he has the

[11:17] engravings on the bullets um he leaves

[11:20] the rifle and you know still is able to

[11:24] get away. What sticks out to you about

[11:26] how he allegedly went about this? Well,

[11:28] I I think in these uh large groups, in

[11:31] these kind of uh large venues, um it's

[11:34] it's especially outdoor venues, it's

[11:36] very uh security is uh is is a tough

[11:40] assignment. Um and if if uh there's not

[11:43] uh enough planning and and that kind of

[11:45] thing that goes into it on the front

[11:46] end. So, I'm not saying it's easy for a

[11:49] person to get in there, but uh somebody

[11:51] can very easily blend in. Um people are

[11:54] so focused on kind of the event and

[11:56] what's going on. Um, and then maybe even

[11:58] their phones and technology these days,

[12:00] they're so focused on that um that

[12:02] they're not going to pay attention or

[12:04] report suspicious behavior. So, he he

[12:08] obviously it sounds like he was into

[12:10] video games. Um, there's a a lot of

[12:13] things that uh you can absorb off those

[12:15] video games about engaging in combat,

[12:18] that kind of thing. I'm not I'm not

[12:19] saying it it's it's training of it

[12:21] sorts, but um it gets in the in the

[12:24] mindset, I think. And I'm not saying,

[12:26] you know, I don't know enough about him

[12:27] to say it was he was a gamer. Um, but

[12:30] certainly the clue that was left on one

[12:32] of the casings indicated that he may

[12:34] have been into gaming. Um, so, and I'm

[12:36] not demig uh putting down gamers, but

[12:39] I'm just saying there could be stuff

[12:41] that uh they learn on there and he could

[12:43] have used some of that. I think it was

[12:45] an organized attack. Uh, and I think he

[12:49] he was very much again radicalized and

[12:51] was going to do this. Um, and the fact

[12:53] that he was able to get away, it's it's

[12:55] chaos in those moments of a of this,

[12:58] like I said, this large venue and people

[13:00] running, people screaming, um, and first

[13:02] responders kind of rushing to the scene

[13:04] to aid the victim and then to make sure

[13:06] there are no other victims. um they're

[13:08] not always uh looking for the suspect,

[13:10] >> you know, and I know that just from

[13:12] reading the the police affidavit today

[13:15] and and how the the governor of Utah

[13:17] mentioned it, they said, you know, he

[13:18] really became political in recent years

[13:21] and it seems like there's a lot of work

[13:23] still to be done to figure out because

[13:26] there's such a difference between, oh,

[13:29] they were really into politics and they

[13:31] went to protest and and maybe they even

[13:33] said some really mean stuff online to

[13:35] being allegedly on a building, firing a

[13:38] shot, and killing somebody like like he

[13:40] allegedly did. How do you go about now

[13:44] figuring out like where it goes from,

[13:47] okay, he's really passionate about his

[13:49] politics to this is someone who has been

[13:51] radicalized to an extremist level that

[13:54] we do see not just in in a case like

[13:56] this, but you know, in a lot of cases,

[13:58] we see people get radicalized for a lot

[14:00] of different beliefs. How do you figure

[14:02] out how this happens? I

[14:03] >> I think you you use some oldfashioned

[14:05] police work. you put boots on the ground

[14:08] and you start interviewing family,

[14:10] friends, uh, schoolmates, uh,

[14:12] colleagues, and you really dig into

[14:14] their background and try to flush out,

[14:17] um, what they're thinking and what

[14:19] they're what they're getting at. Um, I

[14:21] think also you look at the social media,

[14:23] uh, you look at what's what's on his

[14:25] cell phone, what's on his computers, um,

[14:27] and you kind of get an idea of what

[14:29] sites he was going to and what kind of

[14:31] was going on in his mind um, at that

[14:33] time. So, I think that would paint a

[14:35] much uh broader picture of of what's

[14:38] going on. The arrest is just kind of the

[14:40] the start and then there's a whole bunch

[14:41] of work that goes on uh before it

[14:44] actually goes to trial.

[14:45] >> I also think of, you know, we probably

[14:47] take for granted when it's, hey, we're

[14:49] analyzing someone's social media and and

[14:52] police say that and they're able to pull

[14:54] information maybe from Meta or some of

[14:55] these other companies. I know he was on

[14:57] Discord, which seems to come up a lot in

[14:59] these situations. How much work does it

[15:01] take? What does that work really like if

[15:04] we're talking years trying to figure out

[15:06] exactly how he found the motivation to

[15:08] allegedly do this? It

[15:10] >> it's a it's a massive undertaking um and

[15:13] of a lot of different uh types of

[15:16] investigators um being involved and and

[15:18] looking at the the the drive the hard

[15:20] drives, looking at the cell phone data,

[15:22] looking at uh again the interviewing

[15:25] side. Um it it definitely will take uh

[15:28] years.

[15:29] >> Yeah. Because you think of every single

[15:31] post someone said across every single

[15:34] platform for however many years that

[15:36] they feel like he became political.

[15:38] That's just such a big question. Discord

[15:41] um which is is very popular with young

[15:43] people. They use it a lot. Uh but it

[15:45] also seems to come up in cases of

[15:47] extremism on every side of the the

[15:49] political aisle. um what stands out to

[15:52] you just a as someone who has

[15:54] investigated cases um about that

[15:57] particular platform

[15:59] >> and I I don't know a lot about that that

[16:01] has emerged since uh so I retired and in

[16:04] about 3 or four years ago but it it has

[16:06] become a a big platform um so all I

[16:10] would say is um it just seems like

[16:14] there's a lot more uh social mediadriven

[16:18] um hate kind of rhetoric and

[16:20] conversations um that are going on in

[16:23] our society. And it's it's kind of

[16:25] alarming. You see the the the narrative

[16:28] that's been laid out that his family saw

[16:32] the picture that everybody has seen of

[16:34] the man with the hat on and the

[16:36] sunglasses and they have this moment

[16:38] where they realize that their son may be

[16:42] the person who did this and then he

[16:45] apparently confessed in some way to them

[16:47] that he committed this crime. From the

[16:49] investigator's standpoint,

[16:52] knowing that he has confessed to his

[16:54] parents, how does that factor into this

[16:55] investigation? The interviews you do

[16:57] with this suspect, what what does that

[16:59] mean to how this could go forward?

[17:01] >> Uh, it it could go several ways. Um, the

[17:04] parents could um which might be natural

[17:07] to rally around their their son to

[17:09] protect him. Um, and then or they could

[17:12] go another direction, which would be,

[17:13] hey, let's do the right thing. um and

[17:16] let's cooperate with authorities and and

[17:17] give over information and do what we can

[17:20] um and kind of take, for lack of a

[17:22] better word, to kind of take the high

[17:23] road and say, "Hey, yeah, our our boy

[17:25] did this and where it appears that he

[17:27] did it and let's let's uh let's work."

[17:29] So, it could go both ways. Um and it

[17:32] does make it difficult for the

[17:33] investigators to try to um it's it's a

[17:35] difficult situation because the parents

[17:37] aren't the ones who pulled the trigger.

[17:39] Um but they know a lot um and have uh

[17:43] been around this individual for uh the

[17:45] majority of his life,

[17:47] >> right? And and I think too, I mean, what

[17:49] you know, the the pain certainly on

[17:51] Charlie Kirk's family, but you think of

[17:52] of of this young man's family and and

[17:55] what it took to make the decision to

[17:57] say, "Hey, we're going to make sure that

[17:58] he goes to the police station and he is

[18:00] going to be um at least investigated for

[18:03] this, but but now at this point going to

[18:05] face charges and and repercussions for

[18:08] for what he allegedly did to Charlie

[18:11] Kirk." Uh, I think it was 33 hours from

[18:13] the moment that Kirk was killed to this

[18:15] arrest being made. Um, that's probably

[18:18] another thing that we often take for

[18:20] granted is is what it takes to actually,

[18:22] you know, have this type of situation

[18:24] and find a suspect. What stands out to

[18:28] you about how they were able to track

[18:30] this person down? I I think there's a

[18:32] tremendous amount, and you alluded to

[18:33] it, of pressure on um investigators to

[18:37] there's all this information that's

[18:38] blasted out. Um and there's a lot of

[18:41] information coming in. Um so I I think

[18:44] uh like yeah, they they go through this

[18:47] massive pressure to try to find this

[18:49] individual. Um, and and to be honest,

[18:52] that's that's all I know about uh I

[18:54] don't I don't know all the details about

[18:55] the exact apprehension

[18:57] >> in general when you look at these cases

[18:59] because, you know, for me, like there's

[19:01] there's a political motivation allegedly

[19:03] behind all this, but then it's it's

[19:06] these young people and it's and it's the

[19:08] internet activity that that also seems

[19:10] to factor into this. Um, has that been

[19:13] something throughout your career where

[19:15] you just see um kind of this age group

[19:18] in in a place that maybe previous

[19:20] generations hadn't had it where it just

[19:22] seems like very often we're talking

[19:23] about and I may be wrong just people who

[19:26] are 22 years old very much online and

[19:29] you know they end up being responsible

[19:31] for something like this. Yeah, it

[19:33] definitely emerged as kind of I I I

[19:35] walked through my career. Uh I saw

[19:37] technology really uh blooming. Um but it

[19:40] is disturbing to see how captivated the

[19:43] these these generations are by their

[19:46] phones and they almost live in a world

[19:48] inside of their phone so to speak. Um

[19:51] and and that is uh problematic um

[19:53] because we as as human beings I think

[19:56] need that social interaction. Um, and

[19:59] also I think that also contributes and

[20:01] again I'm not a psychologist but the the

[20:04] radicalization of these uh in particular

[20:07] these younger males. Um it it is it is

[20:10] disturbing.

[20:11] >> Yeah. Incredibly disturbing and and

[20:13] fortunately in this case they they have

[20:15] the person they say is responsible.

[20:17] We'll see how the legal process plays

[20:19] out. Um Troy, I know you have a new book

[20:21] out that um really important read for

[20:23] people. What what what do people need to

[20:25] know?

[20:25] >> It's called uh Chasing Down the Zombie

[20:27] Hunter. Uh my team and I spent about

[20:29] three and a half years uh looking for a

[20:31] serial killer. Uh he also left clues at

[20:34] the scene and we became kind of

[20:35] captivated by that. Um and ultimately in

[20:38] 2014 we used a genealogologist who uh

[20:41] helped us uh really unravel the case and

[20:44] and find the killer. And he was known as

[20:46] the zombie hunter. He was hiding in

[20:47] plain sight. Um, and it's uh uh I think

[20:50] it it speaks to why cold cases matter.

[20:53] Um, and why we need dedicated

[20:55] individuals uh sticking on those cases.

[20:58] >> Yeah, that's that's a very very

[20:59] important read. You know, fortunately,

[21:01] as we continue to talk about this this

[21:02] Charlie Kirk case, this isn't one that

[21:04] went cold. Um, but obviously for so many

[21:06] other, you know, families, you know,

[21:08] cases do go cold. So, it's really

[21:10] important that that work is done. Troy

[21:11] Hillman, it's always great to have you

[21:13] on Law and Crime. I know it's been a

[21:14] very busy week, a tough week for a lot

[21:16] of people. Thanks for helping us kind of

[21:18] get some context on this investigation,

[21:20] how it all went down.

[21:21] >> Yeah, thank you, Chris. I appreciate

[21:22] you.

[21:23] >> That will do it for On the Case

[21:25] presented by Law and Crime. Subscribe to

[21:27] us on YouTube and Spotify. I'm Chris

[21:29] Stewart. We'll see you next time.

[21:31] [Music]