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Tyler Robinson in court December 11
Robinson's political views were moving leftward, according to some who knew him, while others say they saw no change.
Tyler Robinson, the accused killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, appeared sympathetic to transgender people — but an analysis of his comments on this and other issues shows his political views were complex.
The Washington Post published just such an analysis Wednesday. It’s based on Robinson’s social media posts and private messages, plus interviews with 21 people who knew him.
Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder with enhancements that include targeting Kirk for his political views. “Tyler James Robinson intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because of Tyler James Robinson’s belief or perception regarding Charlie Kirk’s political expression,” says a charging document from Utah County. Kirk was shot to death September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. An attendee had pressed Kirk on trans issues and mass shootings just before he was shot.
Robinson, a novice electrician and video game enthusiast, had recently begun dating one of his roommates, a trans woman. She was upset about Donald Trump’s election as president last year and increasing anti-trans sentiment, a friend of Robinson’s told the Post. “More than once, the person said, he saw Robinson cradling his sobbing roommate in his arms,” the paper reports. She is cooperating with the investigation and did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment. The same friend said Robinson began objecting to anti-trans rhetoric from conservative politicians as well as Trump’s tariffs. Some right-wing figures have used Kirk’s killing to further demonize trans people and their supporters.
Related: We must not posthumously sanitize Charlie Kirk's hateful life
Robinson’s mother said he recently “had started to lean more to the left,” according to a summary filed by prosecutors, and she told police he had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented” in the past year. Friends had once characterized him as conservative or libertarian, and disdainful of both Republicans and Democrats. But some friends “told The Post they noticed no such changes in Robinson’s politics and never heard him talk about transgender issues,” the publication notes.
He had made antigay jokes at times. After the assassination attempt on Trump in July 2024, Robinson wrote on the messaging platform Discord, “snowflake liberals cant shoot straight cause they too busy being gay.” The Discord messages reviewed by the Post “occasionally touched on politics but consisted mostly of chitchat, memes and crude jokes,” the paper reports. Its reporters found no mention of Kirk, but some messages may not have been preserved.
In text messages with his roommate after the shooting, however, Robinson wrote, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” referring to Kirk, according to the charging documents. He had also told her to look under his computer keyboard, and she found a note saying he “had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Robinson did not comment to the Post. He simply listened as a reporter read him what friends and acquaintances said about him.
He has not entered a plea. He first appeared in court December 11 in a hearing that “focused on issues of transparency and public accessibility to the case,” CNN reports. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin May 18 and last three days. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.
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