From the Washington Post:
βIt was meβ: Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting appeared to confess in Discord chat
βIm sorry for all of thisβ read a message from the suspectβs account, according to two people familiar with the message and screenshots obtained by The Post.
September 15, 2025 at 2:27 p.m. EDTToday at 2:27 p.m. EDT
4 min
Summary855
By Hannah Knowles
,
Shawn Boburg
and
Aaron Schaffer
The 22-year-old suspect in Charlie Kirkβs killing appears to have confessed to friends in an online chat shortly before turning himself in to law enforcement, according to two people familiar with the chat and screenshots obtained by The Washington Post.
βHey guys, I have bad news for you all,β said a message from an account belonging to the suspect, Tyler Robinson, on the online platform Discord. βIt was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.β
The message was sent Thursday night, about two hours before officials said Robinson was taken into custody.
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A member of the group chat shared an image of the conversation with The Post and confirmed that it came from Robinsonβs account. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their privacy and out of fear of harassment.
Discord provided a copy of the message with the confession to authorities, according to a person familiar with the companyβs interaction with law enforcement. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
The message was sent from Robinsonβs account to a small private group of online friends, the person said. Discord is working closely with the FBI and local authorities, providing information about Robinsonβs online activities on the platform, the person added.
Discord has said that an internal investigation found βno evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.β
The Utah County Sheriffβs Office referred The Post to the Utah Department of Public Safety, which did not respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for the Utah DPS as well as for the FBI and the Department of Justice declined to comment.
Robinson was arrested last week after a 33-hour manhunt, accused of fatally shooting one of the countryβs most prominent conservative activists at a Utah Valley University event. Authorities have said one of Robinsonβs family members reached out to a friend who then contacted law enforcement, saying Robinson had confessed or implied that he committed the crime.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said over the weekend that Robinsonβs motive is still under investigation but that the suspect appears to have held a βleftist ideology.β Officials say their interviews indicate that Robinson became βmore politicalβ in recent years and had criticized Kirk.
The Discord conversation shared with The Post shows members of the group chat reacting to Kirkβs shooting last Wednesday β before the news broke that Robinson was allegedly involved. The group included about 30 people, according to the person who provided screenshots.
βCharlie Kirk got shot,β one friend wrote Wednesday afternoon, according to an image of the messages.
βI just saw the video holy s---,β another user wrote about an hour and a half later, adding of Kirk: βBro didnβt deserve to go out like that sad.β
The only response from Robinsonβs account came the next day with the message announcing βbad news.β
βim surrendering through a sheriff friend in a few moments,β the message, posted at 7:57 p.m. local time in Utah, continued. βthanks for all the good times and laughs, youβve all been so amazing, thank you all for everything.β
Robinson was taken into custody at 10 p.m. that night, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
No one responded to Robinson that night, according to the screenshots obtained by The Post. But the next day, one friend wrote that the apparent confession seemed to be true. The friend asked group members to βpray for Tyler and his repentanceβ and then turned to Kirk.
βWhile Charlie Kirkβs politics were not acceptable to some I ask that we all say a prayer for him and his family during these confusing times,β the friend added.
The New York Times reported on a conversation in a different Discord chat group earlier the same day. In that conversation, Robinson joked that a βdoppelgΓ€ngerβ was trying to get him in trouble after law enforcement released images of a shooting suspect who resembled Robinson. Cox confirmed the existence of that conversation on Sunday and said Robinsonβs friends βdid not believe it was actually himβ at that point. The person who provided other Discord messages to The Post said they are from a different group.