TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on Sunday that Tyler Robinson, the man arrested for the killing of right-wing agitator Charlie Kirk, has not been cooperative with authorities. However, Cox stated that investigators are trying to uncover the motive behind the shooting by speaking to Robinson's friends and family.
Cox mentioned that the shooting suspect will be formally charged on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. The 22-year-old man is still detained in Utah.
Investigators have not yet succeeded in uncovering why Robinson climbed the roof of Utah Valley University during an open event and shot Kirk from a distance last Wednesday.
Kirk, a loyal ally of President Donald Trump and one of the founders of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, was killed by a single gunshot in an event attended by 3,000 people in Orem, about 65 kilometers from Salt Lake City. The murder has sparked new concerns about the surge of political violence in the United States and the deepening divide between the left and right wings.
Robinson has not confessed to the investigators, Cox told ABC's This Week program as reported by CNA.
"He's not cooperative, but everyone around him is cooperative, and I think that's very important," said the Republican governor.
One person apparently speaking with investigators is Robinson's roommate, who is also their partner, according to Cox, citing the FBI. Cox described their roommate as 'a person transitioning to become a woman,' and said their roommate is 'very cooperative'.
The media has not been able to locate the roommate or their representative for comment. The media also cannot confirm who is acting as Robinson's legal representative.
When asked on the CNN program State of the Union if the gender identity of the roommate is relevant to the investigation, Cox said, "That's what we're trying to figure out right now... It's easy to draw conclusions from that, so we have bullet casings, other forensic evidence coming in - and trying to piece all that together."
Investigators found messages engraved on four bullet casings, which included meme references and jokes in video games.
A statement filed by the authorities in the case explains these messages.
One inscription, according to the statement, reads: "Hey fascist! CATCH!" followed by an arrow combination, seemingly referring to a series of keystrokes releasing a bomb in a popular video game.
Another casing, according to the statement, reads, "If you're reading this, you're GAY Lmao," an abbreviation of 'laughing my ass off'.
Kirk's loaded rhetoric, often involving anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant comments, has drawn the attention of many conservative groups, but also sparked anger from liberals and garnered widespread criticism.
Robinson, a third-year electrical apprentice program student at Dixie Technical College, part of the Utah state university system, was arrested at their parents' home, about 420 kilometers southwest of the incident location after a 33-hour manhunt.
INVESTIGATORS SEEK MOTIVE
Relatives and a family friend informed authorities that they had been involved in the crime, Cox previously stated.
Despite being raised by religious Mormon parents in a highly conservative and predominantly white state, "his ideology is very different from his family," Cox claimed on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press program as reported by Fox News, without specifying.
State records show Robinson is registered as a voter but has no political party affiliation. A relative told investigators that Robinson has become more political in recent years. They have discussed their dislike of Kirk and their views with other family members, according to the arrest warrant.
Robinson 'is not a fan' of Kirk, Cox stated on Sunday.
The murder has triggered anger among Kirk's supporters and condemnation of political violence from various ideological spectrums.
Many Republican politicians, including Trump, quickly attacked leftist politics, accusing liberals of fanning anti-conservative hatred that would drive like-minded individuals to cross boundaries and commit violence - despite the president and his allies often using images of violence against their opponents.
Mike Johnson, a Republican Party spokesman who is also the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives, urged calm for conservatives and the right wing on Sunday.
"We need to dial down the rhetoric," Johnson said on Fox News Sunday.
In conversations with members of the Republican and Democratic House of Representatives since Kirk's murder, Johnson stated, "There's an acknowledgment that people have to stop framing simple policy disagreements as existential threats to our democracy."
However, Johnson also criticized the Democratic Party.
"You can't call the other party fascist and enemies of the state without understanding that there are some crazy people in our society who will take that as a signal to act and do crazy and dangerous things. And that's what we're increasingly seeing," Johnson said.
On Meet the Press, Cox blamed social media, saying that social media has "played a direct role in every murder and attempted murder we've seen over the last five, six years".
Trump praised Kirk for leading young voters toward conservatism. His Turning Point movement claims to have more than 800 chapters on campuses. Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, said on Friday that the movement's efforts will continue.
A memorial event for Charlie Kirk will be held on September 21 in Glendale, Arizona, according to the organization.
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