By Jack Phillips
FBI Director Kash Patel has provided an update on the investigation of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, saying that he believes the suspect in the case was responsible for the Turning Point USA founder’s death.
Kirk was shot and killed during an event at a university in Utah on Sept. 10, and Tyler Robinson was taken into custody the next day.
When asked by podcaster Megyn Kelly on an episode released on Dec. 5 about the investigation and whether Robinson was the person who shot and killed Kirk, Patel replied, “Yes.”
“This investigation is being led by the Utah state authorities because it is a murder investigation, so the FBI is a supporting role in the investigative process. And so what we’re doing is the same thing we did in the pipe bomb investigation,” Patel said, referring to the recent capture of a suspect who allegedly planted bombs in January 2021 outside the Republican and Democratic national committee buildings in Washington.
Patel said that there is an ongoing investigation into the Robinson case.
“We’re working with the prosecutors in Utah to make sure we don’t screw up their investigation because, again, the worst outcome would be if the guy that killed Charlie Kirk walks out of a United States courtroom in the state of Utah,” he said.
In September, Patel revealed in a congressional hearing that the suspect had been engaged in several Discord chats and that other people who chatted with Robinson would be looked into. Since that revelation, few details have been provided about the Discord chats.
Patel was asked whether the FBI has any information on whether Robinson had assistance from a foreign government or other individuals.
“The FBI doesn’t have credible information to connect any foreign governments to it,” he said in response. “But as I said, we are continuing to take investigative leads. We are not done just because we arrest someone.”
“Just like in the pipe bomber case, we don’t just say: ‘OK, we’re done. Onto the next investigation,’” he said. “The investigative team continues to work with the Utah authorities, and they’re deriving their own leads and coming back to us and say: ‘Hey, can you look at this piece of information? Can we get a search warrant on this account? What about this individual who is located in X, Y, or Z?’ We’re tracking all that down.”
Also in the interview with Kelly, Patel said that the FBI is investigating messages that were posted online before and after Kirk’s death by individuals who identify as transgender.
Prosecutors have said that Robinson was engaged in a relationship with a person who identified as transgender who was also Robinson’s roommate. They have said that Robinson left a message to the roommate and that he messaged the person after the shooting.
“That is most definitely under investigation, and we’ve disclosed a lot of that to the prosecution or all of it that we have,” Patel stated. “And they’ve made some of it public, to include that he was in a relationship with an individual who was part of, a part of that community, and that he was engaged in communications with other individuals in that community.”
Robinson has not yet entered a plea in the case. His next court date is Jan. 16, and his arraignment is Jan. 30.
