Accused Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson is not cooperating with law enforcement, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said in appearances on network Sunday shows.
“He has not confessed to, to authorities,” Cox told ABC News’s This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “He is, he is, he is not cooperating, but, but, but all the people around him are cooperating. And I think that’s, that’s, that’s very important.”
Authorities arrested the 22-year-old on Friday. He currently is in custody with charges expected to be formally filed on Tuesday, Cox said.
In his appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Cox put an end to a claim that made the rounds on social media and in conspiracy theory circles that Robinson was a conservative or a Republican.
“We can confirm…according to family and people we are interviewing, he does come from a conservative family but his ideology was very different than his family,” he told the show:
The governor confirmed several reports from unnamed sources that have surfaced in recent days about the alleged shooter.
Yes, Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who is transitioning from male to female, he said, but that person “did not have any knowledge (of the assassination), was shocked when they found out about it,”
The roommate has been “very cooperative,” Cox said.
Asked on CNN how the roommate transitioning was relevant to the suspect’s motive, Cox said, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now.”
Cox was also asked on NBC about a Sunday New York Times report that alleged Robinson had communicated with friends on a group chat on Discord and was making jokes about being the alleged gunman.
“All we can confirm is that those conversations definitely were happening, and they did not believe it was actually him. It was, it was all joking until, until he, you know, until he admitted that it actually was him,” Cox said.
The governor described Robinson as once a “very normal, very smart” young man with a straight A grade point average and a 34 on the ACT before briefly attending Utah State University. But Cox said Robinson seemed to change after he decided to leave school after one semester.
Robinson spent much of his time gaming and immersed on the “deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture and these other dark places,” Cox told NBC.
Cox told all the Sunday shows that “much more” will be revealed on Tuesday, when charges are expected to be filed.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
