Tyler Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in Kirk's Sept. 10 shooting on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, just a few miles north of the Provo courthouse. Prosecutors with the Utah County Attorney's Office plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. Robinson has not yet entered a plea. An 18-year-old child of a deputy county attorney attended the campus event where Kirk was shot.
When a gunman began firing inside an academic building on the Brown University campus, students didn't wait for official alerts warning of trouble. They got information almost instantly, in bits and bursts - through phones vibrating in pockets, messages from strangers, rumors that felt urgent because they might keep someone alive. On Dec. 13 as the attack at the Ivy League institution played out during finals week, students took to Sidechat, an anonymous, campus-specific message board used widely at U.S. colleges, for fast-flowing information in real time.
As police searched this week for the gunman responsible for a shooting rampage at Brown University, the Trump administration and its allies seized on the violence to cast the schoolas incompetent and ideologically hostile to conservatives - amplifying unfounded theories that a Palestinian student was responsible for the bloodshed and targeted ayoungRepublican. Their commentary added fuel to President Donald Trump's campaign to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campuses, and to root out alleged antisemitism and anti-conservative bias from the nation's colleges and universities.
CNN anchor Jessica Dean, at about 5:11 p.m. ET, reported one suspect was in custody. That report was based on one of the notifications from Brown's campus alert system, which was retracted minutes later by the university. President Donald Trump similarly posted on Truth Social the FBI is on the scene and that the suspect is in custody although Brown University put out a conflicting notification right after, saying the suspect had not been apprehended.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested late on Thursday and officials say he has not been co-operating with investigators The charge means Tyler Robinson, 22, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Mr Kirk last week. Announcing the charges, Utah County attorney Jeff Gray said: "The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy." Mr Kirk was gunned down on September 10 as he spoke to students at Utah Valley University and died soon after.
Wednesday saw a moment without precedent in recent history: A college speaker shot to death on a campus during an event. That fact alone would've escalated growing concerns about the future of free speech and civil discourse at colleges and universities. But this speaker was Charlie Kirk, a prominent ally of a U.S. president who was already crusading against higher ed.
