Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, joked with friends on Discord that the FBI photo released during the manhunt was just his “doppelganger.”
Robinson’s messages surfaced Thursday, September 11, after the FBI circulated grainy surveillance images of a tall man in dark clothing suspected in Kirk’s killing at Utah Valley University. Within minutes, one member of Robinson’s 20-person group chat tagged him under the photos, writing “wya” (“where you at?”) with a skull emoji.
Robinson replied that it was simply a look-alike trying to “get me in trouble.” When another friend typed “Tyler killed Charlie!!!,” he continued to deflect, joking that investigators had the wrong man.
At one point, a member suggested turning Robinson in to claim the FBI’s $100,000 reward. Robinson sneered back, “Only if I get a cut,” while using a cartoon avatar of Garfield’s owner, John Arbuckle. He even mocked the probe, quipping that he should “get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around.”
Federal investigators say Robinson used a .30-06 Mauser bolt-action rifle to fire a single round from roughly 200 yards away, striking Kirk in the neck as he addressed 3,000 people at the opening stop of his “American Comeback Tour” in Orem, Utah, on September 10. Casings recovered at the scene were inscribed with the words, “Hey fascist! catch!”
Robinson turned himself in two days later after his father confronted him and a local youth minister urged him to speak with police. He was charged with aggravated murder and could face the death penalty.
Kirk, 31, founder of Turning Point USA and a father of two, was pronounced dead at the scene. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called the shooting a “politically motivated assassination.”
