Friends and family of Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin, say that the national narrative has not aligned with what they know about the 22-year-old from Utah.
Speaking with independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, Robinson’s friends described him as smart, friendly, and largely uninterested in politics—a detail that has made the shooting all the more difficult for them to understand.
“I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part,” one of Robinson’s friends told Klippenstein under the banner of anonymity. “That’s the big thing, he just never really talked politics which is why it’s so frustrating.”
The Trump administration and its MAGA allies have thus far painted Robinson as an ANTIFA (antifascist) agent, while left-wing verticals have portrayed him as a member of the far-right. But close confidantes say that neither is wholly accurate: Robinson held complicated, bipartisan views.
“Obviously he’s okay with gay and trans people having a right to exist, but also believes in the Second Amendment,” the friend said.
And although Robinson’s MAGA family have been giving soundbites to the press, there was a lot that Robinson’s family didn’t know about him, according to his friends. Case in point: his bisexuality, and his relationship with his roommate, a transgender person named Lance.
Even Lance was caught off guard by Robinson’s act, according to text messages that the two exchanged after Kirk was shot. The texts were published as part of Robinson’s criminal charges. When pressed as to why he murdered Kirk, Robinson told his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Robinson said he had planned the assassination for a little over a week, and added that the etched engravings on his bullet casings—which refer to a couple of popular video games—were “mostly a big meme” that he thought would be amusing to see discussed on Fox News.
Robinson had a “stone cold poker face” and could be “super hard to read,” another friend told Klippenstein. Those close to Robinson didn’t believe he was hiding anything from them. “As far as we knew he was opened up,” the second friend said.
No one could have envisioned that Robinson, a well-liked straight-A student, would be capable of or even interested in killing Kirk.
“To all of us he just seemed like a simple guy who liked playing games like Sea of Thieves, Deep Rock Galactic, and Helldivers 2, loved to fish and loved to camp,” the second friend said. “It really did seem like that’s all he was about.”
Robinson turned himself in to authorities on Friday. He was charged Tuesday with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice, among other charges. Prosecutors announced that they are seeking the death penalty in the case.
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