People wearing ‘We are Charlie’ T-shirts pay tribute to Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist, during a candlelight vigil held in front of an impromptu memorial at Memorial Park in Provo, Utah, on Sep. 12, 2025, after he was shot at a public event at Utah Valley University. (Credit: Melissa Majchrzak/AFP)
How Tyler Robinson, a bright high school student raised in the Mormon faith by Republican parents, could have drifted to the point of killing right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk?
The question is stirring Washington, a small town in Utah. The 22-year-old suspect, arrested Thursday evening after a 33-hour manhunt, grew up in this small Western town, framed by red-hued canyons and mountains. His parents’ home is a typical middle-class American house on a winding street with tidy lawns. In this neighborhood, next to the local church, Kris Schwiermann is in shock.
Tyler was the eldest of three boys, a “calm, respectful, rather reserved, but very intelligent” child, according to his retired former elementary school caretaker. “He was the ideal student, the kind of person you’d want in your class,” confirms Jaida Funk, who knew him from elementary through high school, between ages 5 and 16.
“I always thought he would one day become a businessman or CEO, rather than what I’m learning about him today,” the now 22-year-old said. “It’s really unexpected.”
At school, “he was reserved, but not weird; he had friends and talked to different groups,” she recalls.
Tyler graduated high school with honors in 2021 and briefly attended college before switching to an electrical apprenticeship program at a technical school near his home.
Hunting parents
His parents — a granite countertop salesman and a healthcare professional working with disabled individuals — are Mormons, like many Utah residents, according to Schwiermann. However, they are no longer practicing. “I haven’t seen them at church in eight years,” the 66-year-old retired woman said.
Photos shared by the Robinson family on social media depict a family that enjoyed traveling, camping and hunting with their children. A seemingly ordinary exposure to firearms was apparently repurposed in a chilling way, when Tyler shot Charlie Kirk in the neck with a scoped rifle during a campus event at Utah Valley University, about four hours from Washington, Utah.
While his parents are registered Republicans, Tyler himself has indicated no political affiliation and, according to state records, did not vote in 2024.
According to Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who revealed certain investigative details Friday, the young man had “become more politicized in recent years.” He reportedly shared his hostility toward Charlie Kirk, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, with a family member. His father convinced him to surrender to the police.
Investigators also found messages with anti-fascist tones — “Hey fascist! Catch this!” and a reference to the Italian anti-fascist song Bella Ciao — on shell casings near the crime scene, leading much of the American right to label him an “extreme-left” killer.
‘Car enthusiast’
Rather than a committed activist, his former classmates described him to The New York Times as a fan of shooting video games like Halo and Call of Duty. Tyler also didn’t discuss politics with Jay, who had known him since January through a group of muscle car enthusiasts.
“He was rather shy, just a car enthusiast,” said the forty-something neighbor, who declined to give his last name. “We only talked about our love for muscle cars, the sound they make, and how they drive.”
His shiny gray Dodge Challenger was the only notable thing about Tyler Robinson that neighbors knew in the subdivision where he lived in Saint George, ten minutes from his parents’ house.
In this nondescript complex, residents interviewed by AFP did not even recognize him when the FBI released his photo during the manhunt.
Heather McKnight, his neighbor for over a year, described him as a solitary, sullen stranger who drove too fast for her liking.
“He was always distant, never said hello. … He was just weird,” said the 50-year-old nurse. “Who could have imagined that this thin little man getting in and out of his car would be capable of such a heinous act?”
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