Tyler Robinson, 22, is in custody for the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk after a friend and his own family cooperated with police in his arrest.
In a remarkable press conference led by Utah Governor Spencer Cox and FBI Director Kash Patel, several details were revealed about the suspect in custody and the evidence being collected for his prosecution.
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Utah Governor Spencer Cox
“We got him,” Governor Cox proclaimed as this morning’s press conference got underway. Director Patel congratulated the work of local authorities in the 33-hour effort in tracking down the suspect.
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” Patel said.
I was particularly impressed with discourse later in the press conference when the governor made remarks that the event could prove to be a major turning point in U.S. history, whether “dark” or “positive.” He also credited the words of Charlie Kirk himself as helping him overcome his emotions resulting from the tragic event.
“We can return violence with violence, we can return hate with hate,” Cox said. “That’s the problem with political violence. It metastasizes. We can always point the figure at the other side. At some point we have to find an offramp, or else it’s going to get much worse.”
Robinson is not a student at Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place. He resides four hours south in Washington County, where he was taken into custody.
PICTURED: Mug shots of Charlie Kirk assassin suspect Tyler Robinson.
The text of Governor Cox’s impassioned remarks during the press conference:
“This is a very sad day for, again, our country, a terrible day for the state of Utah. But I’m grateful that at this moment we have an opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation’s history.
“I think it’s important where we go from here.
“I don’t want to get too preachy, but I think it’s important that we, with eyes wide open, understand what’s happening in our country today.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Why are we so invested in this? There’s violence happening all across our country. And violence is tragic everywhere, and every life taken is a child of God who deserves our love and respect and dignity.’
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“This is certainly about the tragic death, assassination, political assassination of Charlie Kirk. But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals.
“This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been, and who we could be in better times. Political violence is different than any other type of violence, for lots of different reasons: One, because in the very act that Charlie championed of expression — that freedom of expression that is enshrined in our founding documents — in having his life taken, in that very act, makes it more difficult for people to feel like they can share their ideas, that they can speak freely.
“We will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problems that people are worried about, if we can’t have a clash of ideas safely and securely. Even especially, especially, those ideas with which you disagree. That’s why this matters so much.”
“Over the last 48 hours, I have been as angry as I have ever been, as sad as I have ever been. And as anger pushed me to the brink, it was actually Charlie’s words that pulled me back. I’d like to share some of those. And specifically, right now, if I could, I need to talk to the young people in our state, in my state, and all across the country. As President Trump reminded me, he said, ‘You know who really loved Charlie? The youths.’
“He’s right. Young people love Charlie, and young people hated Charlie. And Charlie went into those places anyway. And these are the words that have helped me.
“Charlie said: ‘When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence.’
“He said, ‘The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive, welcome without judgment, love without condition, forgive without limit.’
“He said, ‘Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.’
“A few months ago … Charlie posted to social media:
“‘When things are moving very fast and people are losing their minds, it’s important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends, and remember internet fury is not real life. It’s going to be OK.’
“He ends it with:
“‘When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence.’
“He said, ‘What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable agreement, being able to have reasonable agreement where violence is not an option.’
“Now, again, to my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now, not by pretending differences don’t matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.
“I think we need more moral clarity right now. I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence, and there is one person responsible for what happened here, and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable. And yet, all of us have an opportunity right now to do something different.
“I want to thank my fellow Utahns. You know, this bad stuff happens. And for 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here that it wouldn’t be one of us — that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for — just because I thought it would make it easier on us, if we could just say, ‘Hey, we don’t do that here,’ and indeed, Utah is a special place. We lead the nation in charitable giving. We lead the nation in service every year. But it did happen here, and it was one of us.
“But I want you to look at how Utahns reacted the last two nights. There was no rioting, there’s no looting, there were no cars set on fire. There’s no violence. There were vigils and prayers, and people coming together to share the humanity. And that, ladies and gentlemen, I believe, is the answer to this. We can return violence with violence. We can return hate with hate. And that’s the problem with political violence, is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side.
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