STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's work through what we have learned in the past hour or so about the man accused of murdering the activist Charlie Kirk.
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SPENCER COX: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We got him.
INSKEEP: That's Utah Governor Spencer Cox naming the suspect at a press conference. President Trump had announced that a suspect was in custody on Fox News a couple of hours before that. And then, in the news conference, we learned that the suspected shooter's name is Tyler Robinson.
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COX: On the evening of September 11, a family member of Tyler Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.
INSKEEP: And when we say the incident, of course, we mean, of course, a single shot, a sniper shot from a rooftop at a Utah college that struck Charlie Kirk in the neck, killing him. NPR's Bobby Allyn was listening along with us to the news conference a bit earlier and is on the line. Bobby, what do you know about the suspect?
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: So, Tyler Robinson is 22 years old. He was arrested after a family member of Robinson's apparently reached out to authorities. Robinson, the investigators said, you know, made some kind of confession to a family member who then went to law enforcement. They also have an incriminating message from him on the social media platform Discord about the location of a rifle. And, look, while the picture of Robinson, Steve, is still coming into view, we can say that, you know, investigators said at a recent dinner, Robinson mentioned that conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was coming to Utah Valley University and that Robinson did not like Kirk. And so this arrest comes after, of course, as you mentioned, you know, a two-day man hunt. And yesterday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and FBI director Kash Patel released new video footage and urged the public to help them catch the shooter. And now we have a shooter in custody.
INSKEEP: Yeah. Perhaps that played some role in this. We don't precisely know, but in any case, the suspect is in custody. Mugshots have been released. He's standing sideways in one of the mugshots. He appears to be about six feet tall from southwestern Utah, from Washington, Utah, in the far southwestern part of the state. Now, you said something about him getting more political in recent years. That gets to the question of motive. I guess we should note, as you did earlier today, Bobby, saying that anything we have is fragmentary and hard to judge, but there are bullet casings with inscriptions. What do some of them appear to say?
ALLYN: Right. So investigators did recover these bullet casings, and the inscripted phrases include, quote, "hey fascist, catch" and, "if you read this, you are gay LMAO," which is an acronym for laughing one's but off.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
ALLYN: Look, I don't really know what to make of this, and I imagine investigators are looking at it pretty carefully. Hard to draw exact conclusions, but yeah, motive is going to be a key focus of this investigation going forward. And just earlier, you know, Governor Cox used the arrest of Robinson for the killing of Kirk as a chance to urge, you know, a more civil and peaceful path in confronting political opponents.
INSKEEP: Yeah. Let's listen to an extended bit of this talk that Governor Cox gave. It's quite something.
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COX: To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don't matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations. I think we need more moral clarity right now. I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence, and there is one person responsible for what happened here. And that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable.
INSKEEP: Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, speaking just a short time ago, Bobby Allyn, what stands out to you there?
ALLYN: I mean, what really stands out is just how brazen this attack was. I mean, not only did it happen publicly at this amphitheater, where there were thousands of people, but, you know, videos of the incident just spread all across the internet in this pretty shocking way. And that, you know, really, really, really just started a conversation that included a lot of fears. Is this going to lead to more violence? Are people going to be inspired by this? Is this the state of our country so broken that if you don't like someone, you try to shoot them. And I think what Governor Cox is trying to do there is just bring the temperature down a little bit. I think that's kind of what he's trying to do.
INSKEEP: Bobby Allyn, thanks so much. Really appreciate your insights throughout the morning.
ALLYN: Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: NPR's Bobby Allyn is in Orem, Utah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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