Utah Governor Says Suspect in Charlie Kirk Assassination Held Left-Wing Views

Utah’s governor says the suspect accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk held left-leaning political views, even though he grew up in a Republican household.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Governor Spencer Cox identified 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as coming from “a conservative family” but said his “ideology was very different” and that he had spent time in “dark places” online. Cox did not speculate about Robinson’s motive but said investigators were looking closely at his background.

Public records show Robinson is a nonpartisan voter in Utah, while his parents are registered Republicans. In a separate CNN interview, Cox said information about Robinson’s political leanings came from interviews with his family and friends.

“If this was a MAGA-aligned person, I would say that too,” he added.

Cox also confirmed reports that Robinson had a romantic relationship with a transgender roommate but stressed that investigators do not yet know if it was relevant to the killing.

Kirk, a prominent conservative commentator and cofounder of youth group Turning Point USA, was shot dead on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was a key ally of former President Donald Trump and helped energize the youth vote in Trump’s reelection campaign.

The assassination has shocked the political world and highlighted the deep partisan divides in the United States. While leaders from both parties condemned the killing, some left-leaning social media users celebrated Kirk’s death, sparking outrage from conservatives. On the right, calls for retribution grew louder. Tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X, “If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die.”

Trump has seized on the shooting to hammer “radical left” extremism, arguing on Fox News that left-wing radicals are “the problem” and “politically savvy” compared with the right. In another interview, he called his opponents “a radical left group of lunatics.”

Kirk’s assassination comes amid a documented rise in political violence. According to Reuters, the U.S. has seen at least 300 politically motivated attacks between the January 6 Capitol riot and the 2024 presidential election — the highest level since the 1970s.