Saturday, September 20, 2025

Busted: FBI fails to find link between Kirk suspect and left-wing groups

September 20, 2025
RAW STORY

NBC News reports the federal investigation into the assassination of MAGA activist Charlie Kirk has yet to uncover a link between alleged shooter Tyler Robinson and the left-wing groups that President Donald Trump and his administration have pledged to prosecute.

“Every indication so far is that this was one guy who did one really bad thing because he found Kirk’s ideology personally offensive,” an anonymous source familiar with the investigation told NBC

Two other anonymous sources familiar with the investigation told NBC it may not even be easy to charge Robinson at the federal level for the alleged assassination, considering Robinson, a Utah resident, did not travel from out of state to allegedly commit the murder. Kirk was shot during an open campus debate at Utah Valley University.

Additionally, Kirk is not a federal officer or elected official, which NBC reports further complicates categorizing the investigation as a federal matter.

Robinson is currently facing state charges, chiefly for aggravated murder and obstruction of justice, among others. State prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Officially, Trump’s Department of Justice offered no comment on the issue.

“The investigation is ongoing and beyond that we decline to comment,” a spokesperson told NBC.


Pins and candles are placed on a poster with an image of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as Turning Point USA hosts a vigil for him at Colorado State University, on what was supposed be the next stop on his speaking tour, in Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. September 18, 2025. 
REUTERS/Cheney Orr

Thomas Brzozowski, former Justice Department’s counsel for domestic terrorism, told NBC News that while Kirk’s assassination appears to meet the definition of domestic terrorism, identifying a federal charge to bring against the shooter may prove a challenge.

“As is always the case, the FBI needs a federal hook to initiate an investigation,” Brzozowski said, adding that currently the FBI is “acting in an assistance to state authorities’ capacity.”

Prosecutors can seek a sentencing enhancement after conviction.

Despite the current absence of evidence linking the suspect to left-wing groups, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was quick to demonize such organizations, calling them a “vast domestic terror movement.”

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” Miller said, according to NBC. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name





'No evidence' found yet of ties between Charlie Kirk's shooting and left-wing groups, officials say

Allan Smith
Sat, September 20, 2025
NBC NEWS


The federal investigation into the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has yet to find a link between the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, and left-wing groups on which President Donald Trump and his administration have pledged to crack down after the killing, three sources familiar with the probe told NBC News.

One person familiar with the federal investigation said that “thus far, there is no evidence connecting the suspect with any left-wing groups.”

“Every indication so far is that this was one guy who did one really bad thing because he found Kirk’s ideology personally offensive,” this person continued.

In addition, two of the people familiar with the probe said it may be difficult to charge Robinson at the federal level for Kirk’s killing, while the third source said there is still an expectation that some kind of federal charge is filed against Robinson.

Factors that have complicated the effort to bring charges at the federal level include that Robinson, a Utah resident, did not travel from out of state; Kirk was shot during an open campus debate at Utah Valley University. Additionally, Kirk himself is not a federal officer or elected official.

A Justice Department spokesperson said, “The investigation is ongoing and beyond that we decline to comment.”

Robinson currently faces state charges, which were announced on Tuesday. He is being charged with aggravated murder and obstruction of justice, among others, and Utah prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case. Prosecutors said Robinson targeted Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative political group Turning Point USA, during the Sept. 10 event because of his “political expression.” His mother told investigators in part “that over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left.”

Thomas Brzozowski, who was until recently the Justice Department’s counsel for domestic terrorism, told NBC News that while Kirk’s assassination appears to meet the definition of domestic terrorism, finding a federal charge to bring against the shooter might be a challenge. There’s no federal law that makes acts of domestic terrorism a stand-alone crime, although prosecutors can seek a sentencing enhancement after conviction.

The FBI is frequently involved in domestic terrorism investigations that ultimately result in only state-level charges.

“As is always the case, the FBI needs a federal hook to initiate an investigation,” Brzozowski said. “Here, it appears that they’re acting in an assistance to state authorities’ capacity.”

Charging documents filed Tuesday also contained a series of texts between Robinson and a roommate, whom police described as “a biological male who was involved in a romantic relationship” with the suspect and transitioning to female. The roommate’s identity has not been made public.

The texts appear to link Robinson to the crime. One message alerted the roommate to a hidden note in their residence, which read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” according to the documents.


“What?????????????? You’re joking right????” the roommate apparently wrote back.

Robinson allegedly told the roommate he planned the attack for more than a week and, when asked why he killed Kirk, said: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Following Kirk’s shocking assassination, which has sparked a wave of grief, fear and fury on the right, Trump and his allies have threatened to come after left-wing advocacy groups that they saw as fomenting the anger that led to Kirk’s death.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said left-wing organizations amounted to a “vast domestic terror movement.”

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” Miller said recently. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”

As NBC News reported Thursday, that effort is likely to face hurdles.

“There’s not a lot of federal law on this,” Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that tracks progressive groups and is influential in conservative circles, said then. “Frankly, the states and localities should be doing a better job [of prosecuting criminal activity], as they did in the 1960s. They have enormously more manpower.”

Since 2002, right-wing ideologies have fueled more than 70% of all extremist attacks and domestic terrorism plots in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The Justice Department also said in a study last year that the number of far-right attacks in this country continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. The study was removed from the Justice Department website in the past few days, according to 404 Media.

Kirk’s funeral is set for Sunday in Arizona. On Thursday, a joint bulletin authored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Secret Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Department of Homeland Security said law enforcement is “tracking several threats of unknown credibility” against people who may be planning to attend Kirk’s memorial, though so far there’s no concrete evidence that anyone is in danger or that the threats are real, according to a senior law enforcement official.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com


Elon Musk claims higher education ‘radicalized’ Charlie Kirk shooting suspect as bullet casings reveal antifascist, gamer messages

Ashley Lutz
Fri, September 12, 2025 


Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his "American Comeback Tour" when he was shot in the neck and killed.

Elon Musk intensified his criticism of higher education in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting at Utah Valley University, amplifying posts on X that alleged the suspected gunman had been “radicalized” by college culture. On September 10, 2025, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University during a Turning Point USA event. The killing triggered widespread political turmoil, outrage, and a manhunt, resulting in the arrest of shooting suspect Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah.

Robinson was detained by authorities on Thursday after the FBI released photos and video of the suspect. At a press conference, Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that inscriptions on bullet casings found at the scene included anti-fascist ideology and declined to comment on other markings that seemed to reference video game and online slang.

Tesla founder and CEO and billionaire Elon Musk weighed in on X, the social media platform he owns, to sharply condemn portions of the political left. Musk accused left‐leaning individuals and networks of celebrating Kirk’s death and called the left “the party of murder.” He also suggested that a culture that shamelessly celebrates or condones such violence is intertwined with ideological leanings fostered inside higher education—essentially blaming a kind of politicized academic environment for helping produce someone capable of political violence.

Many on the political right—Musk included—have pointed to social media posts in which some left-leaning users appeared to mock or celebrate Kirk’s death. Musk directly condemned the posts that appeared to celebrate Kirk’s shooting, in one case clarifying a false claim that a Tesla employee had made one such mocking comment. On Thursday, DC Comics canceled a forthcoming comic book called the Red Hood after its writer Gretchen Felker-Martin posted commentary on Bluesky about Kirk’s death. Felker-Martin, who is transgender, told The Comics Journal that she had “no regrets” and noted that Kirk had a history himself of inciting violence against the queer community.

Robinson, who was turned in by his father through a minister who was also a family friend, had recently said that Kirk was “full of hate,” Cox told reporters in his briefing.
Challenges for youth and higher education

Much of Musk’s framing leans on a tenuous claim that universities and campus environments contribute to ideological radicalization. Political violence on the right is also a feature of American life, as seen in the attempted coup on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Shootings of political figures on both sides of the aisle include Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords being shot in Arizona in 2011 and Republican Rep. Steve Scalise getting shot in Virginia in 2017. Neither died, although Giffords has a permanent disability as a result.

Media outlets and analysts have cautioned against jumping to conclusions about motive or political affiliation in the case of Kirk’s death. However, the growing social media discussion suggests a broader disillusionment among young people.

Fortune reported in January that a substantial share of young people believe violence may be an acceptable form of change under certain circumstances. This reflects a broader cultural trend of dissatisfaction and radicalization among young people. On the other side of the world this week, Nepal is being shaken by violent demonstrations by self-described “Gen Z protesters” in reaction to a sudden decision by the government of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to ban Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms. Bloomberg Opinion’s Howard Chua-Eoan wrote that some 25% of the world’s population, roughly 2 billion of the world’s 8 billion people, are Gen Z and they are “disenfranchised in great numbers.”

At the same time, leaders within higher education have acknowledged the sector’s challenges. In an April 2025 commentary article for Fortune, a group of former college and university presidents urged institutions to resist demands for ideological purity and instead safeguard academic freedom, warning that bending to political orthodoxy risks deepening the very divisions that critics highlight.

For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com


HRC demands WSJ retract report linking Kirk shooting to transgender community

Brooke Migdon
Fri, September 12, 2025 
THE HILL


HRC demands WSJ retract report linking Kirk shooting to transgender community


The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, is demanding that The Wall Street Journal retract its reporting incorrectly linking the shooter in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination with the transgender community.

Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon while speaking at a Utah college. In the clamor of information related to Kirk’s killing, The Wall Street Journal, citing “an early bulletin circulated widely among law enforcement officials,” reported Thursday that investigators had discovered ammunition with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” inside the rifle believed to have been used in Kirk’s killing.

The New York Times reported later Thursday that the document had not been verified by analysts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, did not match other summaries of the evidence and “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”

The story from The Wall Street Journal was later updated to reflect caution from some Justice Department officials about the veracity of the internal bulletin. On Friday, a lengthy editor’s note was appended to the outlet’s original report, after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), during a news conference, “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.”

Cox on Friday said law enforcement had taken Tyler Robinson, 22, into custody in connection with Kirk’s assassination following a multiday search. Engravings on both spent and unused bullet casings found at the scene read “Hey fascist!” and “Catch!” Cox said. Another read, “If you read this, you are gay, lmao.”

On Friday, the Human Rights Campaign said The Wall Street Journal’s reporting erroneously tying Kirk’s murder to the transgender community was “reckless and irresponsible” and led to a “wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers.”

“News outlets like @wsj.com have a critical responsibility to report the truth,” the organization wrote in a post Friday afternoon on Bluesky. “Promoting false information that ties our LGBTQ+ community to the Utah shooting is reckless, irresponsible, and puts trans people especially in danger. Anyone with a platform must do better. Lives are on the line.”

“@wsj.com needs to hear from ALL of us,” HRC added in a second post, which includes a link to an open letter. “Take action now to demand a retraction and apology for its dangerous and misleading coverage.”

The letter, to be delivered to a Wall Street Journal inbox for general feedback, says rage “is what makes this country a tinder box,” echoing recent pleas from Cox and others to turn away from political violence.

“The rush to lob hot takes and publish click bait is not how we are going to get out of this deeply divided, dangerous era,” the open letter reads. “News outlets like the Wall Street Journal must do better.”

A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal did not immediately return a request for comment.

The outlet’s reporting and the fallout come as the Justice Department reportedly considers banning transgender people from owning firearms in response to last month’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The proposal, which the Justice Department has not publicly released or confirmed, has been condemned by Second Amendment rights groups, including the National Rifle Association.

President Trump, in an interview late last month with the Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, said most mass shooters are not transgender.

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