Trump Confirms Suspect ID’d in Charlie Kirk Assassination — 22-Year-Old Utah Man Turned In by His Own Father
President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that law enforcement has identified the suspect in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — a 22-year-old Utah man named Tyler Robinson, reportedly turned in by his own father.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump said during a live interview on Fox & Friends. The president revealed that “somebody who was very close to him turned him in,” adding it was Robinson’s father who tipped off authorities through “a minister who was involved with law enforcement.”
Trump confirms on Fox and Friends that he believes they have Charlie Kirk’s assassin in custody and that a minister and the shooters father were involved in bringing him to justice. pic.twitter.com/dP7arFlhZD
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) September 12, 2025
“I hope he’s going to be found guilty, and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump declared.
Law enforcement sources confirmed Robinson’s identity to The Post, noting that he is a local resident of Utah. Officials are expected to provide a public update later this morning.
Investigators believe Robinson fired a single shot from an elevated position roughly 200 yards from the tent where Kirk, 31, was speaking at Utah Valley University’s Losee Center. Initial reports described the shooter as wearing jeans, a black shirt, and a black vest, armed with a long rifle from a rooftop east of the school’s library.
The fatal shot came moments after Kirk had just answered a student’s question about mass shootings committed by transgender individuals. Video from the scene shows Kirk suddenly clutching his neck as the crack of a single gunshot sent the packed crowd into chaos and panic.
“I didn’t watch,” Trump said of the graphic footage circulating online. “I heard about it… I would have never made a good doctor, let me put it that way. I didn’t want to watch it… I didn’t want to remember Charlie that way.”
The manhunt that followed involved the FBI, the Utah Department of Public Safety, Orem Police, and campus law enforcement. Thousands of tips have poured in since the shooting, described by officials as the largest response since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
FBI Director Kash Patel initially announced Thursday that a person of interest had been taken into custody, but later clarified that the individual was released after questioning. That person was not Robinson, who is now the prime suspect in what authorities have confirmed was a targeted assassination.