Charlie Kirk suspect ‘was in romantic relationship’ with his transgender roommate

Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin may have been in a relationship with his transgender roommate, investigators believe.

Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested for killing the conservative political activist after someone he was living with handed over evidence to the FBI.

The murder suspect is believed to have been in a relationship with his roommate, who is reportedly a biological man transitioning to become a woman, according to Axios, who cited six US officials familiar with the case.

Supporters gather at a memorial in Utah for Charlie Kirk.Credit: AP

The claim was also corroborated by a law enforcement source, the New York Post reported.

Early in the investigation there were initial reports that the ammunition used to gun down Kirk was engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology”.

But it was later confirmed the inscriptions did not explicitly reference transgenderism and instead alluded to ironic internet culture.

No clear motive has been established in the investigation into Kirk’s killing, but the right-wing activist held strident views on transgender ideology.

Kirk opposed transgender rights and Turning Point USA, an organisation he co-founded sponsored rallies against transgender medical care. In April 2024, he likened doctors who perform gender-affirming care to Nazis committing atrocities.

At the time of his death, Kirk was answering a question about the prevalence of transgender mass shooters.

The FBI and the Utah Valley University police department did not deny reports that Robinson’s partner was transgender, when approached for comment by The Telegraph.

Josh Kemp, Robinson’s neighbour, claimed to have seen the alleged assassin walking hand-in-hand with another individual two weeks before Kirk’s killing.

Speaking to the Sun, he said the pair appeared to be a couple, adding: “They drove off in his car, the Dodge Challenger.”

The neighbour claimed he also saw them kissing and heard them discussing a doctor’s appointment, which he believed was related to the roommate’s transition to become a woman.

Kemp added that Robinson was wearing all black and that he thought the 22-year-old was “weird”.

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A family member told the FBI that Robinson had grown increasingly political in recent years, accusing Kirk of “spreading hate” during a recent family dinner.

Casings from the weapon used to kill the conservative activist were found to have several anti-fascist messages engraved on them.

One engraving read “Hey fascists, catch!” next to an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols. Another was scrawled with lyrics referencing Bella Ciao, a World War II Italian anti-fascist song.

Other engravings that were initially believed to refer to transgender ideology instead appeared to allude to the furry subculture, a community of individuals interested in anthropomorphic animal characters and fur suits.

One bullet casing was engraved with the words “notices, bulges, OwO, what’s this?“, a meme used to symbolise flirting within the furry community, with the OwO emoticon supposedly resembling a face.

During a press conference on Friday, investigators revealed that Robinson had shared messages with his roommate in which he discussed the bullet engravings, as well as plans to retrieve and stash a rifle.

In the woods near campus, officers retrieved a high-powered, bolt-action rifle containing one spent cartridge and three more, unused rounds.

The roommate was said to have helped investigators by sharing Robinson’s messages with them.

Robinson’s political leanings remain unclear. However, Donald Trump and his allies have used the killing of Kirk to rally against the rise of radical-left violence across the US, following the assassination attempts on the president last year.

Hours after Kirk’s killing, Trump gave an emotional speech, claiming the “radical left” was “directly responsible for the terrorism that we are seeing in the country today”.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, on Friday pledged to “dismantle” left-wing groups accused of “fomenting violence”.

Speaking to Fox News, he said: “The last message that Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his creator in heaven was he said that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organisations in this country that are fomenting violence.

“That was the last message that he sent me … we are going to do that.”

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