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The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk confessed to the murder in a note to his flatmate, it’s been alleged.
Tyler Robinson is accused of shooting the Turning Point USA founder and close Donald Trump ally at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Robinson, 22, appeared in court for the first time yesterday and Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray said he had left a note under his keyboard for his roommate to find.
The note allegedly read: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.’
Mr Gray also said the roommate was Robinson’s romantic partner, and they lived together near St George, Utah, about 240miles from the campus.
The roommate has not been named and is cooperating with investigators.
Robinson also allegedly confessed to the killing in a Discord server, telling other users: ‘I’m sorry for all of this.’
The suspect is being held without bail in a special unit at Utah County Jail, and appeared in court remotely wearing an anti-suicide vest.
He has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent crime when children are present.
Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty over Mr Kirk’s shooting, adding that Robinson has not entered a plea or confessed to police.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Gray said the defendant sent a text message to his roommate which said: ‘Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard.’
After reading the apparent confession, the roommate replied: ‘What?????????????? You’re joking, right????’
The pair exchanged many more text messages throughout the evening.
When asked why he killed Kirk, Robinson allegedly said: ‘I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.’
The defendant also allegedly wrote: ‘To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.’
The roommate replied: ‘you weren’t the one who did it right????’
The defendant replied: ‘I am, I’m sorry.’
Mr Gray said Robinson also talked about his movements after the shooting in messages with his roommate.
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According to prosecutors, the defendant wrote: ‘I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down.
‘Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.
‘I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it.’
Robinson allegedly told his partner to delete their messages and stay silent if questioned.
His mother told investigators her son had become more political in the last year, including becoming more supportive of the LGBTQ+ community and entering a relationship with his roommate, who is transgender.
Robinson told his partner in a text that his dad had become a ‘diehard MAGA’ since Trump was elected, and that there had been arguments within the family over their clashing political views.
But Mr Gray wouldn’t say whether he thought Robinson targeted Mr Kirk for his views on transgender people, saying ‘that is for a jury to decide’.
Mr Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings carried out by transgender people when he was shot in the neck.
He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.
The bullet reportedly passed close to other people, including children and the person who had asked Mr Kirk the question.
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