Republican Party media icon Charlie Kirk was known for his debates on college campuses under the tagline “Prove Me Wrong,” but at a similar event at Utah Valley University, Charlie Kirk was cut short as he was shot and killed. The suspect of the shooting, Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody, and speculations run rampant online.
Charlie Kirk was a prominent figure for the Republican party, especially among Gen Z. He was known as a podcaster, “debate bro”, and the co-founder of a conservative youth organization called Turning Point USA. Kirk had the attention of both Republican voters and the politicians on top, being a close ally to President Donald Trump and friend to Vice President James David “JD” Vance.
Charlie Kirk gained his popularity from posting videos of him debating students on college campuses, a trend he followed even after becoming relevant on a governmental scale. His last event was yet another one of these campus debates.
Kirk went to Utah Valley University (UVU) on Sept. 10 and stationed in the Fountain Courtyard at UVU’s Orem Campus. The event had only been going on for 20 minutes when a gunshot suddenly rang out, and Kirk was hit in the neck. Police rushed Kirk, who was in critical condition, away to the hospital.
Roughly two hours later, President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Charlie Kirk was dead.
In the chaos of the shooting, a few suspects were initially apprehended before being released. More information came out Sept. 11, when the FBI released photos of the “person of interest”: a young man wearing a backpack, hat, sunglasses and black shirt.
Following the release of photos came a video of the suspect fleeing from the rooftop of one of the campus buildings. Soon after, the family of Tyler Robinson reached out to authorities with information. The family reported that Tyler Robinson had confessed to being the shooter. Tyler Robinson was soon taken into custody.
Tyler Robinson is a 22-year-old man from Utah, enrolled in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George. He was raised in a Republican Family in a similarly conservative town in southern Utah, but according to voting records, he was listed as unaffiliated and “inactive.” He was described by peers as intelligent, interested in video games and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tyler’s online presence and interest in video games, comics, and internet culture could be seen in the reported engravings on the bullet casings of his weapon. One of the bullets was engraved with the lyrics from the song “Bella Ciao”–an anti-Nazi Italian song.
Another bullet was engraved with “notices, bulges, OwO, what’s this?” and a sequence of arrows likely referencing the third-person shooter game, “Helldivers 2.” The engraving read “↑→↓↓↓”, which is the command that activates the Eagle 500kg bomb weapon. Don Caldwell, the editor in chief of “Know Your Meme” gave some insight on the usage of the arrows in a WIRED article, explaining that the sequence is typically used when someone is “going to do a big violent action.”
A definite political label for Tyler Robinson has been hard to find. Some claim he’s a leftist, while others claim he is a “Groyper” which is a group of alt-right white nationalists led by online commentator Nick Fuentes.
The information authorities have uncovered and released is currently too little to truly get a read on Tyler Robinson, and internet discourse is likely to continue until a definite answer of who Tyler Robinson is comes out.
Charlie Kirk was 31 years old, and despite his controversial nature as a conservative commentator, he left behind a notable legacy among Republicans and can be attributed to the revitalization of the Republican Party among the youth. Violence has no place anywhere as a solution to discourse, and with the arrest of Tyler Robinson, there is hope for some closure to come to those who Charlie Kirk was closest to, whether it be his family, friends or fans.
