About
Tyler Robinson refers to the Suspected Charlie Kirk Shooter, the gunman who assassinated right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk[1] at Utah Valley University on September 10th, 2025. Utah authorities and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials held a press conference on September 12th, identifying Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, as the case’s prime suspect. According to officials, a family member of Robinson alerted authorities after remembering an incident prior to the shooting in which Robinson talked about Kirk’s then-upcoming UVU event and expressed disdain for him. A claim that Robinson confessed to his father, who turned him in, spread online as well, started by the Daily Mail. Investigators also linked Robinson’s grey Dodge Challenger to one seen at the scene of the crime. Investigators notably viewed Discord[2] messages allegedly sent by Robinson that detailed elements of the shooting. The gunman additionally made engravings on the bullet casings used in the shooting that referenced memes[3] and internet[4] catchphrases[5], like Notices Bulge / OwO What’s This?[6] and “Hey fascist! Catch! up arrow, right arrow, three down arrows,” a reference to the Eagle 500kg Bomb[7] from the video game Helldivers 2[8]. Robinson’s mugshots were released to the public on September 12th, 2025. The developing story quickly spread on social media sites like Twitter / X[9], Reddit[10] and TikTok[11], among others. Notably, Robinson being identified as the prime suspect quelled the spread of unfounded claims that a “Skye Valadez[12]” was the Kirk shooter, which originated on 4chan[13].
History
On September 10th, 2025, right-wing political commentator and Turning Point USA[14] founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University (UVU). Heading into the following day, the suspect was still at large. Investigators focused on video footage, showing the suspected shooter escaping from a nearby roof.
The FBI released security camera stills of the suspected shooter to let the public help identify them. The images were posted by the @FBISaltLakeCity account on X on September 11th, gaining over 76.1 million views and 327,000 likes in a day. The suspect was seen wearing sunglasses and all-black clothing, including a long-sleeve graphic T-shirt with the American flag on it.
On the morning of September 12th, 2025, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and FBI officials, like FBI Director Kash Patel, held a press conference in which they identified the case’s main suspect as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah.
Governor Cox began the announcement by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him[15].” He then detailed how authorities identified Robinson as the suspect. Governor Cox stated that a family member of Robinson alerted authorities after remembering an incident prior to the shooting in which Robinson talked about Kirk’s then-upcoming UVU event and expressed disdain for him.
Cox further stated that investigators saw Robinson arrive at the UVU campus on September 10th, driving a grey Dodge Challenger and wearing a maroon-colored shirt.
Cox also noted that Robinson’s roommate was contacted by authorities, who showed investigators Discord messages allegedly sent by Robinson that detailed aspects of the shooting.
Robinson’s mugshots were released by the Utah Governor’s Office on September 12th, 2025.
Engravings Found On Bullet Casings
On September 11th, 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that transgender and antifascist ideology was found engraved on the bullet casings from the rifle that authorities believed was used in Charlie Kirk’s shooting. WSJ’s tweet on the development received over 1.1 million views in a few hours.
According to reports on September 12th, the actual engravings were largely meme, internet and video game references, as well as one that was antifascist. The messages found on the bullet casings included:
Online Presence
On September 12th, 2025, the news of Tyler Robinson’s arrest spread en masse on social media. For instance, on that day, X user @TheInsiderPaper shared Robinson’s mugshots, gaining over 6,200 likes in an hour.
Around the same time, Redditor mal73 shared Robinson’s mugshot to the /r/pics subreddit, gaining over 12,000 upvotes in an hour.
Other viral posts spread the news, like a tweet from X user @CollinRugg on September 12th, who echoed a claim made by the Daily Mail that Robinson allegedly confessed to his father. The tweet received over 28,000 likes in an hour.
Other viral tweets echoed the same claim that Robinson’s father was the one who alerted authorities. For instance, the X account @PopBase posted about the claim, gaining over 4 million views and 35,000 likes in an hour.
Soon after, X user @isseyboy quote-tweeted[16] @PopBase, joking about Robinson’s dad seeing the $100,000 reward for turning in the shooter, gaining over 15,000 likes in an hour.
Multiple X users began sharing photos of Tyler Robinson from the purported Facebook[17] account of his mom, Amber Jones Robinson. For instance, on September 12th, X user @bobbythebishop shared images of Robinson, gaining over 3,600 likes in two hours.
Many internet users began speculating what Robinson’s political affiliations were, seemingly trying to grasp his motive, assuming that he was the shooter.
For instance, on September 12th, 2025, X user @PunishedFredda quote-tweeted a post that used a photo of Tyler Robinson and paired them with the memetic catchphrases written on the shell casings found by investigators at the scene of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. @PunishedFredda wrote, “Cool, another kid with contradictory politics and irony-poisoned internet culture messages written on their murder implements. This pattern will, of course, continue to go ignored.” The post gained over 3,100 likes in an hour.
On X and other sites, many users expressed a belief that Robinson was a Groyper[18] in viral posts as his online presence and the engravings found on the bullet casings continued to spread on September 12th.
On that same day, Twitch[19] streamer Hasan Piker[20] posted a quote-tweet on X, expressing, “Tyler Robinson (Kirk’s alleged shooter) came from a Mormon family in both law enforcement and the military, but I’m not so certain if he himself was right wing. A lot of the memes posted on the casings are ironic or of the left variety. Different than previous far right shooters.” The post received over 5,400 likes in an hour.
Also on September 12th, 2025, Bluesky[21] user @juniper.beer[22] posted a series of images noting the inclusion of the antifascist song “Bella Ciao” in the engravings on the bullet shells allegedly used by Robinson and that the song was on a “Groyper War” playlist on Spotify. The 4chan[23] images also showed anonymous users claiming Robinson was a Groyper. In one hour, the post received over 1,600 likes, 300 reposts and 40 quotes.
Search Interest
External References
References
- ^ assassinated right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Discord (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ memes (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ internet (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ catchphrases (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Notices Bulge / OwO What’s This? (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Eagle 500kg Bomb (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Helldivers 2 (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Twitter / X (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Reddit (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ TikTok (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Skye Valadez (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ 4chan (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Turning Point USA (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Ladies and gentlemen, we got him (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ quote-tweeted (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Facebook (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Groyper (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Twitch (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Hasan Piker (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Bluesky (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ @juniper.beer (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ 4chan (knowyourmeme.com)