A new report from ‘The New York Times’ reveals a glimpse into Tyler Robinson’s demeanor via Discord messages that were allegedly sent by him, just hours before his arrest
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Tyler Robinson’s mugshot; Charlie Kirk.Credit : Utah County Sheriff’s Office; OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty
Messages reportedly sent by and to Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer give a glimpse into his behavior following the fatal shooting — including a joke about his “doppelgänger” carrying out the killing.
Suspect Tyler Robinson was arrested 33 hours after the right-wing political commentator’s death. During that period, Robinson, 22, reportedly sent several messages in a Discord group chat of about 20 people, which have since been obtained by The New York Times, offering a view into the alleged killer’s demeanor following Kirk’s death. (A Discord spokesperson confirmed the validity of the messages to PEOPLE.)
Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University while manning one of his signature “prove me wrong” tables on Wednesday, Sept. 10. In the initial aftermath of the shooting, the FBI released surveillance images of a person of interest on the Utah campus, seeking the public’s help in identifying him.
After seeing the photos, one of Robinson’s acquaintances pointed out his resemblance to the man in a message on Discord sent on Thursday, Sept. 11, the day after the fatal shooting, per the Times’ report published on Saturday, Sept. 13.
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The unidentified acquaintance sent the images in the group chat around 1 p.m. local time, tagging Robinson’s username and writing “wya” (meaning “where you at?”) with a skull emoji, seemingly nodding to his resemblance to the person of interest, per the outlet.
Within a minute, Robinson had replied, and the alleged killer reportedly wrote back that his “doppelgänger” was trying to “get me in trouble,” according to the Times.
In other messages obtained by the outlet, another member of the Discord group chat wrote, “Tyler killed Charlie!!!!” while a different user suggested that the group could turn in Robinson for the FBI reward. The suspect replied: “Only if I get a cut.”
One user also made reference to Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was detained at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania. According to the Times, the Discord user issued Robinson the following warning, seemingly in jest: “Whatever you do, don’t go to a mcdonalds anytime soon.”
The suspect reportedly responded by writing that he “better also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around,” per the outlet. And, after another user suggested that President Donald Trump would send the National Guard to Utah as a result of Kirk’s death, Robinson allegedly replied, “In a red state??? nah CLEARLY the shooter was from california.”
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In other messages obtained by the Times, Robinson reportedly sent messages about the ammunition used in the fatal shooting, implying that he was closely following news about the killing. (It was later revealed that the inscriptions on the bullet casings did not reference transgender issues, contrary to an early, erroneous law-enforcement bulletin.)
“I heard the ammo had somethin about trans stuff on it, but they aren’t releasing photos or exact quotes,” the suspect said at one point, per the outlet. Minutes later, he seemingly joked that he was “actually Charlie Kirk” and “wanted to get outta politics so I faked my death, now I can live out my dream life in kansas.”
Robinson was arrested at 10 p.m. local time on Sept. 11, after allegedly confessing to the crime to family members. The arrest came just hours after the “doppelgänger” messages and replies were sent. They eventually sent shockwaves through the same Discord group chat, per the Times’ report.
According to the outlet, users in the chat had a difficult time believing that their fellow member was responsible for the killing. Messages sent after his arrest read, “I truly cannot distinguish if this is for real,” and, “Our governor wants to give him the death penalty dude.”
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In the wake of the unearthed correspondence, a spokesperson for Discord shared a statement with PEOPLE, stating that while the messages are real, there is “no evidence” that Robinson planned any aspect of the killing on the platform.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and extend our condolences to the Kirk family and everyone affected,” said the spokesperson. “In the course of our investigation, we identified a Discord account associated with the suspect, but have found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord. The messages referenced in recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be Discord messages. These were communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere.”
“We have removed the suspect’s account for violating our off-platform behavior policy,” the spokesperson continued. “We strongly condemn violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement.”
