The Guardian has retracted quotes from a source said to have known Tyler Robinson that claimed the alleged Charlie Kirk shooter was “really leftist.”
The British publication ran an article on Friday outlining new information about Kirk’s alleged shooter delivered by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, 50, and FBI Director Kash Patel, 45, during a press conference that morning. The paper included quotes from a source claiming to have attended high school with Robinson. The source claimed that Robinson was “pretty left on everything” and “the only member of his family that was, like, really leftist.”
The passages have since been removed. An editor’s note at the top of the article reads, “Editor’s note: This article was updated on 12 September 2025 to remove quotes after the verified source who attended high school with Tyler Robinson said after publication that they could not accurately remember details of their relationship.”
The retraction comes amid intense speculation about Robinson’s motives for allegedly killing Kirk. Republican politicians and pundits initially laid blame for Kirk’s killing at the feet of Democrats, with some vowing retribution against the Left before a shooter was even apprehended.
This was not the only high-profile retraction made by a media outlet regarding the case. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published comments from cops working the Kirk case that stated etchings on the bullet casings recovered from the suspected murder weapon promoted “transgender and antifascist ideology.”
The Journal later amended the piece, saying in an editor’s note, ”Justice Department officials later urged caution about the bulletin… saying it may not accurately reflect the messages on the ammunition.”
On Friday, the actual messages on the bullet casings were read aloud by Gov. Cox. One casing read “Hey, fascist! Catch!”, and the rest appear to be memes and video game references. None of them contained “transgender ideology.”
Errors like these have aggravated social media users as the misinformation has amplified the Right’s moral panic against left-leaning social media users and “trans mass shooters.”
Some have argued there is more evidence to suggest Robinson held extreme right-wing beliefs. Though Robinson is not a registered Republican or Democrat, he comes from a family of Republicans. Some suspect Robinson’s fluency with online culture, evident in the memes he allegedly scrawled on the bullet casings, suggest he was a “Groyper,” or a radicalized follower of white nationalist and antisemitic influencer Nick Fuentes, who criticized and trolled Kirk from the right.
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