The suspect at the centre of the murder of Charlie Kirk is “not cooperating” with authorities, despite his friends and family giving information to investigators, the governor of Utah has said.
During a round of media interviews on Sunday morning, Governor Spencer Cox said Tyler Robinson, 22, is “not cooperating” with investigators despite handing himself in.
Robinson was taken into custody less than two days after the 31-year-old right-wing activist was shot dead during an event at a Utah university on Wednesday.
He handed himself in after being urged to do so by his father and a family friend who is a local pastor.
Cox said investigators were not yet ready to discuss a motive behind the attack but had been told by Robinson’s family and friends that he held left-wing views.
Cox said that friends paint a picture of someone radicalised in the dark corners of the internet.
“Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on,” Cox said on NBC.
“Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”
The Republican governor, who has campaigned for more bipartisan cooperation and a toning down of political rhetoric, said he: “I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was a radicalised MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well.”
The governor said the suspect’s partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign Robinson was targeting Kirk for his anti-trans views.
Authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive.
“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”
Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, about 240 miles southwest of Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
Ammunition found with the weapon used to kill Kirk was engraved with taunting, anti-fascist and meme-culture messages. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”
Robinson has two younger brothers, and his parents have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts.
Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that took vacations to Disneyland, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska.
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