On September 10, 2025 at 12:23pm MDT on the Utah Valley University campus, a fatal cartridge struck Charlie Kirk in the neck after Tyler James Robinson was tired of Kirk’s “hatred” spreading around the world.
Approximately 15 minutes into Kirk’s “American Comeback” tour, a rallying event where Kirk would debate on better persuading conservative republics and or “own the libs” who questioned his ideology, Kirk entered into a debate regarding gun violence against Sammy McDonald, a Cambridge University student. McDonald prompted a question about American mass shootings, which Kirk challenged by stating “Counting or not counting gang violence?” when a large pop echoed throughout the campus, silencing the 3,000 people in attendance. This pop would be the sound of a cartridge released from the barrel of a Mauser model 98 .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle aimed towards Kirk from approximately 160 yards away at the top of a campus building, according to Robinsons Indictment released by Utah County. The cartridge would tear Kirk’s carotid artery, immediately causing his fatality; the carotid artery is the bridge for the human body’s blood supplies to transfer from the brain to body.
Once the cartridge was fired Robinson fled the scene on foot until reaching his gray dodge challenger, ditching his grandfather’s rifle in a bush with the intention to return for the rifle at a later time. This commenced the 33 hour manhunt for the shooter.
At 10 AM, the Federal Bureau of Investigations director Kash Patel released partial photos of the shooter. 45 minutes later, Patel issued a statement offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the individual who killed Charlie Kirk.
Immediately in response to being informed of Charlie Kirk’s death, President Donald J. Trump ordered all flags on U.S. soil and Naval vessels within U.S. territories to be flown at half-staff until sunset on September 14, 2025.
Tyler Robinson’s mother, Amber Robinson, recognized her son in the partial photos. However, she was uncertain if the shooter was truly him. She would then urge her husband and father of her children, Matthew Robinson, to question their son. Messages between the father and son confirmed Tyler Robinson as the shooter, where he stated “I would rather kill myself than turn myself in” after his father urged him to surrender. His parents were later able to persuade him to arrive at their family home, where Robinson confessed that his motive was driven by Kirk’s hate speeches-or as Tyler Robinson stated, “there is too much evil.” Eventually his father managed to convince Robinson to confess to a close family friend who was previously a deputy sheriff. The four arranged for Robinson’s surrender for September 11, 2025 at 10pm, reported in Robinsons Indictment.
After officials connected all of the dots, the evidence has now been released to the public. The DNA found on the cartridges, rifle, and towel were all consistent with Robinson. When mobilizing to the UVU campus he carried 4 engraved cartridges on his person.
The single fired cartridge read: “NoTices Bulge OWO What’sThis?” Which is possibly connected to memes and phases in relation to the furry community.
The second cartridge read: “Hey Fascist! Catch!↑ → ↓↓↓” The arrows have been linked to a video game known as Helldivers 2; the arrows in the game are a shortcut to drop a bomb on a player.
The third cartridge read: “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao Bella ciao Ciao, ciao!” This phrase is from an Italian folk song that was created to honor the partisans during the Italian resistance against the Nazi and Fascist forces during the 19th century.
The fourth cartridge read: “If you Read This, You Are GAY Lmao” This was likely used to offend the republican community since similar remarks have been known to upset several conservatives, reported by Robinson’s indictment.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was a predominant conservative political activist in the republican community and the co-founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative political nonprofit organization that visits high school and college campuses within the United States. It originated in 2012 with the help of Bill Montgomery. However, over the years, Kirk has gained controversy over his political opinions regarding his stance against several women’s rights, civil rights, gun regulations, immigrants, the rejection of Christian nationalism from non-Christians, attendance for higher learning, the terms empathy and compassion, and far more. Two of his more famous recounts would be:
“I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment.” Stated on April 5, 2023, at a TPUSA Faith event.
“It should be public. It should be quick. It should be televised… It’s an initiation…it should also be taken in a holy way…You just say look this is what they did and if you do this. This will be your fate. Ready. Set. Go. Boom. End of life.” Stated on The Charlie Kirk Show, THROUGHCRIME Ep.33 – The Big Fanny Whammy? Glee? Kill Pedos? (Timestamp, 49:17)
Tyler Robinson, 22, grew up in a very close republican home where he maintained a 4.0 GPA and would eventually attend Utah State University for one semester in 2021, where he would not return for the following semester, as CNN reports. In recent years, Robinson has grown closer to the democratic ideologies and began fighting for pro-gay and trans-rights according to his mother, Amber Robinson. Many speculate that this is in relation to his romantic partner being a transgender female. However, while this may play a part, a large amount of his motive to shoot Charlie Kirk was due to Kirk’s hate speech, not opinion.
On September 16, 2025, in the Judicial District Courts of Utah County, the trial of Utah State vs. Tyler James Robinson commenced in the presence of Judge Tony F. Graf, Jr. Jeffrey S. Gray, The Utah County Attorney presented the charges of:
- Count 1: Aggravated Murder
- Count 2: Felony Discharge of a firearm
- 2 Counts: Obstructing Justice
- 2 Counts: Witness Tampering
- Count 7: Violence Offense Committed in the Presence of a Child
During the first day of court Tyler Robinson attended virtually without the advisement of a defense attorney, which prompted him to only state his name and have no facial reactions. Another factor may be the realisation of the situation entirely and the possibility of receiving the death penalty from the prosecution.
The 7 total charges have not shocked the democratic community since the evidence has become very clear to the public. However, several communities were terrified that the shooter would be of a minority descent with the fear the world would be subjected to relive the riots of January 6th or George Floyd. The terror that shook the world during those days would commence once more. Despite their fears, many focused on the matter of school shootings.
Charlie Kirk died during a school shooting, he may have been the target, but that does not change the fact that this was a planned school shooting. The democratic party has argued for better gun control regulations especially given that there have already been at least 162 school shootings in the past 9 months alone with a total of 148 (fatal and wounded) according to K-12 School Shooting Database.
While the argument of better gun regulations grows louder, the republican party is focusing on the several Americans who have decided to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk and the lack of emotions shown by Robinson. However, during the earlier stages of the trial several republicans began speculating on who the shooter could be among their ideology; this was evident through Joey Mannarino’s X account. Several of his posts were dedicated to challenging the democratic party and stating that college radicalized him.
In the end, many state that Charlie should not have died because of his opinion. Others challenged this by saying his “opinion” was hate speech and he died by a public execution- something that he supported. Despite the two arguing sides Tyler James Robinson will be tried in Provo, Utah before a court of his peers and Erika Kirk has expressed that her husband’s work did not die with him, swearing to continue what he started.
The divide between gender, race, and politics inhabited humanity for many years, but it grew far greater on September 14, 2025. It is unclear if Tyler Robinson was the catalyst or simply just a spark for it all.
