On a Utah college campus last week Wednesday September 10th, right-wing influencer and provocateur Charles “Charlie” Kirk was murdered on the first of a ten stop university “American Comeback” tour. Tyler Robinson, a 22 year old Utah native, has been identified as the suspect and as of September 12th is in custody after being turned in by his father and a family friend.
The murder of Charlie Kirk has sent shockwaves across the political universe as he leaves a mourning and angry conservative movement that he helped largely create—politicans and figures on the right have harpooned on his death as pretext to investigate and rein in the “radical left,” whose rhetoric was they view was directly responsible for the death of Kirk.
In Kirk’s wake, donations and chapter creation requests for his conservative non-profit Turning Point U.S.A. have skyrocketed—conservatives are rallying around the rhetoric of contempt towards the left propagated by influencers and advisors to the President like Stephen Miller. Today, a week after Charlie Kirk’s passing, America stands more divided than ever and more terrifying is that now the emerging de-facto answer to disagreement is violence.
The American Comeback Tour
Charlie Kirk was set to embark on a ten campus stop tour where he’d engage with students of similar and opposing viewpoints and by the language of his content “destroy them,” with facts and logic. The crowd of more than 3,000 attendants waited with anticipation for Kirk’s arrival—and then he arrived to roaring applause with a white shirt with the word “FREEDOM” boldly imprinted on it, Kirk was ready to begin.
The white tent was situated at the UVU Fountain Courtyard and adorned with bold “American Comeback” and his trademark “Prove Me Wrong” slogan. Kirk strode onto the platform throwing out MAGA hats to an electric crowd of students ready to hear him disseminate the conservative messaging that brought MAGA to the forefront of American politics.
For 20 minutes, the show proceeded as planned with Kirk inviting Utah to “bring the best libs it has to offer,” and as he sifted through students and question at 12:22 pm MT Hunter Kozak a UVU mathematics student asked “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last year?” Kirk quickly uttered “too many.” Hunter then challenged Kirk by asking whether that was “counting or not counting gang violence.” At 12:23, Charlie Kirk raised his microphone to answer the question and a bullet rang in the air from a nearby rooftop and hit him in the neck—pandemonium ensued.
Kirk was carried to Timanogos Regional Hospital by a team of six of his private security men—horrific close up images of his shot quickly streamed out across social media platforms. World leaders, from President Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and conservative influencers who considered Kirk to be a friend quickly expressed their horror at the situation and offered their prayers. Simultaneously, FBI released footage showed the suspected gunman bolting off the roof of the Losee Center 125 meters away from Kirk’s platform into the neighborhood. But he wasn’t the first man apprehended at the outset of the moment—that would come 33 hours later.
The Manhunt
As the suspected gunman bolted away into the surrounding neighborhood, police were thrown off guard when a George Zinn, 71, started to scream “I shot him—now shoot me.” Zinn was quickly thrown to the ground where he repeatedly asserted his rights—but it was quickly clear that it wasn’t Zinn who shot Kirk, as he explained his motive as “drawing attention away from the real shooter.” Zinn has since been released but is facing second degree obstruction of justice charges, the FBI quickly began their search for the perpetrator.
The FBI had a truckload of tips to manage—receiving more than 7,000 tips and leads (the largest amount since the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013). A PR crisis emerged for the FBI as Director Kash Patel posted that “the subject believed to have shot Kirk is now in custody,” and then only an hour later having to retract his statement. Early at 9:58 am on Thursday September 11th, the FBI released grainy photos of the person of interest; the Governor of Utah Spencer Cox pleaded with the public for “any help we can get” in apprehending the suspect. Unfolding as the FBI combed through leads and tips was a father coming to grips with the actions of his son.
Tyler Robinson, a 22 year old from a suburb in Washington County, born to a conservative family only to have views that sharply differed from theirs. Robinson became vehemently opposed to the ideas of Charlie Kirk especially relating to his views on members of the LGBTQ+ community—and repeatedly said to those close around him that “he’s had enough of Kirk’s hatred.” As the images of the suspect circulated, Robinson’s mother believed the man in the pictures to be the image of her son and she quickly called Robinson to check on him—he said he was “home sick.” His mother didn’t buy it—she then told Tyler Robinson’s father.
Matthew Robinson examined the pictures up and down and saw that the murdered weapon identified looked strikingly similar to the family heirloom rifle he gifted to his son Tyler—it was time for a confrontation.
The father quickly confronted his son and after some degree of pressure, Robinson folded and threatened to end his life before he would turn himself in—in the difficulty of the moment Matthew Robinson called on a youth pastor and family friend to help calm Robinson. The pastor came and contacted the Washington County’s Sheriff’s Office on Thursday night—and by late that evening, Tyler Robinson turned himself in.
September 12th to Today
Early on September 12th at 6am, Donald Trump on an appearance of Fox and Friends said that “I think with a high degree of certainty we have him in custody,” later on that Friday the news was confirmed with Governor Spencer Cox of Utah saying “We got him.” Then the investigations into Tyler Robinson’s personal life continued—before he confessed to his father, he confessed to his roommate who he appeared to be in a romantic relationship with.
Upon perusing his belongings, Robinson’s roommate discovered a note under his keyboard reading “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” The texts have been released as part of court filings with prosecutors seeking the death penalty for Robinson’s murder of Kirk. Robinson’s roommate, a transitioning female, has been cooperative in the police’s investigation into Robinson’s planning and motive. The attack with the confession and Robinson’s views is being determined as politically motivated as Robinson himself saying “some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Reactions and Resentment
Reactions from across the aisle have poured in with right wing voices expressing their fury about the events that transpired at UVU. In a message following Kirk’s death, President Trump vowed to crack down on left wing groups he attributed as directly responsible for the death of Kirk. On his appearance on Fox and Friends, television host Ainsley Earhardt asked him how he planned to unite the country and Trump responded “I couldn’t care less.”
Trump Officials from across the administration have reciprocated, with Vice-President J.D. Vance hosting Kirk’s newscast where he said “we will explore every option to bring real unity to our country and stop those who will kill Americans because they don’t like what they say.” Stephen Miller, one of the many guests Vance had on the episode stated that “With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people.” Influencers from far-right Nicholas Fuentes to colleagues of Kirk ranging from Ben Shapiro to Candace Owens have expressed the same line—the time for dialogue with the left is over.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and mother to two young girls whom he leaves behind in death, issued a message that Turning Point U.S.A would “ become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever.” That Kirk would be “a martyr,” whose legacy would only become stronger in death. Her declaration appears to be coming to pass, with TP U.S.A. receiving more than 30,000 inquiries to start chapters across the country and more than 5 million dollars being raised for the Kirk family since his death. Conservatives in America have taken Kirk’s death as a clarion call to rank behind the President and his MAGA message.
A Bridge of Wills Message
Lya eloquently expressed our thoughts in our Monday editorial about political violence in America, but here we reciprocate again. The mission of BOW is that people unite together in civil dialogue and into discussions of good faith away from the partisan mudslinging that tears our country apart. Violence can never be the solution to our political disagreements. Violence in America that has become sadly commonplace must be replaced with an atmosphere of love and understanding, and acknowledging that we are the inheritors of the American way of life—only together can we keep the torch of liberty alive, and division will only accomplish a prolonged painful demise.
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