Utah’s governor has suggested the man suspected in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk may have been driven to kill by his engagement with online culture and video games.
“There was a lot of gaming going on,” Gov. Spencer Cox told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. “Friends have confirmed that there was that deep dark internet, Reddit culture and other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”
Authorities have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson and are expected on Tuesday to charge him with this week’s murder of the far-right commentator during a campus event in Utah.
Robinson’s detention has prompted fervent speculation as to his political leanings and potential motives for the killing, with right-wing voices framing him online as a violent adherent of “transgender ideology.”
Cox confirmed Sunday that Robinson does appear to have been in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who is transgender. But authorities have said it’s unclear whether the relationship was a motive in the killing.
The governor added that the roommate has been “incredibly cooperative” with investigators following Kirk’s assassination.
As for evidence of Robinson’s engagement with online culture, Cox added in his Sunday interview on Meet the Press “you saw that on the casings,” adding “I didn’t have any idea what those inscriptions meant, but they are certainly the meme-ification that is happening in our society today.”
Investigators have confirmed the bullet casings recovered from the rooftop where the shot that claimed Kirk’s life was fired were inscribed with a number of references to internet subcultures and political ideologies.
The spent casing was reportedly engraved with the phrase “Notices bulge OwO what’s this?”, a phrase associated with the “OwO” emoticon, popular in furry online role play communities.
Others include references to the Italian anti-fascist anthem “Bella ciao,” apparent controller inputs for the video game Helldivers 2, and the phrase “if you read this, you’re gay,” a term taken from a popular meme.
A number of people who knew Robinson from his school years have reportedly confirmed the suspect in Kirk’s slaying was indeed an obsessive player of video games, with some of his preferred franchises including Halo, Call of Duty, and Minecraft.
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