It has been nearly four months since the assassination of Charlie Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10. After a nearly 48-hour manhunt, President Donald Trump announced a suspect in custody and law enforcement confirmed the news soon after.
The suspect is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Washington, Utah, and he has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and a violent offense committed in the presence of a child. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Robinson.
But theories have abounded in the aftermath of the arrest about whether authorities have the right guy, whether he acted alone, and more. On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by FBI Director Kash Patel and she asked him about those concerns.
The Suspect
Megyn: Do you believe that we have the proper suspect in custody? Do you believe that Tyler Robinson is, in fact, the man who killed Charlie Kirk?
Dir. Patel: Yes.
Megyn: Do you believe he acted with the help of anyone else?
Dir. Patel: This investigation is being led by the Utah state authorities because it is a murder investigation, so the FBI is a supporting role in the investigative process. And so what we’re doing is the same thing we did in the pipe bomb investigation. The investigation is ongoing for us. If there’s any new leads or tips, we are exhausting them with search warrants and legal process. But at the same time, we’re working with the prosecutors in Utah to make sure we don’t screw up their investigation because, again, the worst outcome would be if the guy that killed Charlie Kirk walks out of a United States courtroom in the state of Utah. And so it’s a delicate balance, again. But there is no way this FBI is going to stop that investigation until it reaches its all-conclusive endpoint.
Foreign Intervention
Megyn: Do you believe any foreign government had a role in his assassination?
Dir. Patel: At this time, the FBI doesn’t have credible information to connect any foreign governments to it. But as I said, we are continuing to take investigative leads. We are not done just because we arrest someone. Just like in the pipe bomber case, we don’t just say, ‘Okay, we’re done. Onto the next investigation.’ The Investigative team continues to work with the Utah authorities, and they’re deriving their own leads and coming back to us and say, ‘Hey, can you look at this piece of information? Can we get a search warrant on this account? What about this individual who is located in X, Y or Z?’ We’re tracking all that down.
TPUSA Rumors
Megyn: Do you have any credible reason to believe that anyone connected with the Turning Point organization had anything to do with Charlie’s death?
Dir. Patel: Zero.
The Text Messages
Megyn: The text messages between Tyler Robinson and his roommate Lance Twiggs – the reason a lot of people think Tyler didn’t do it is because they sound kind of fake, the wording just sounds a little strange… Do you have any reason to believe that that text exchange was not real between them for whatever reason, potentially even having been orchestrated between the two of them?
Dir. Patel: Look, I understand the emotion behind this case. Charlie was my friend. He was your friend. He was assassinated in the most brutal way, in a public forum where he was trying to have engagement with the youth of the United States of America. And while I was representing the White House at Ground Zero in New York City on 9/11 we made the decision to pivot immediately and fly out to Utah to make sure we executed this manhunt. We went out there the FBI seized video evidence and put it out to the public immediately, and then this individual was caught in 33 hours. And so I understand that there’s so much charged emotion on the other evidence that was collected, the notes that you were talking about– the text message, I mean, excuse me, and we present that information to the prosecutors to make the determination based on the evidence we have as to whether or not they were real. I can’t stylize or comment on it because it’s an ongoing investigation. But I don’t believe the prosecutors in the state of Utah would be using any piece of information or evidence that was not credible.
‘Transtifa’ Connection
Megyn: There were texts by certain trans individuals online before the assassination talking about something big is going to be happening and then after he was killed, saying, ‘And there it is,’ leading many of us to wonder whether there was some sort of ‘Transtifa’ connection to the murder, or at least maybe some tip off to the community. Is that under investigation?
Dir. Patel: That is most definitely under investigation, and we’ve disclosed a lot of that to the prosecution or all of it that we have. And they’ve made some of it public to include that he was in a relationship with an individual who was part of a part of that community, and that he was engaged in communications with other individuals in that community. But as to how they relate to the prosecution, that’s up to the Utah prosecutors to say, ‘We need this in court, and we’re going to hold it til we release it, til his trial.’
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Dir. Patel by tuning in to episode 1,207 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.