Suspect in Charlie Kirk’s murder has ‘leftist ideology’, Utah governor says

The fishy successful the assassination of the blimpish American activistic Charlie Kirk espoused left-wing views, Utah’s politician has said, amid heightened tensions and recriminations implicit surging governmental unit successful the United States.

In an interrogation with NBC News’s Meet the Press connected Sunday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said the arrested suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had a “leftist ideology” contempt increasing up successful a blimpish family.

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“We tin corroborate that, again, according to household and radical that we’re interviewing, helium does travel from a blimpish family. But his ideology was precise antithetic than his family, and truthful that’s portion of it,” Cox said.

Cox, a Republican, did not elaborate connected Robinson’s suspected motive, but said the fishy had spent clip successful “dark places” online.

“We bash know, and again, this has been good publicised, that this was a precise mean young man, a precise astute young man,” Cox said.

According to nationalist records, Robinson registered arsenic a nonpartisan elector successful Utah, portion his parents are registered Republicans.

In a abstracted interrogation with CNN’s State of the Union, Cox said the accusation astir Robinson’s left-wing views had travel from interviews with household members and friends.

“I truly don’t person a canine successful this fight. If this was MAGA, and a radicalised MAGA person, I would beryllium saying that arsenic well,” Cox said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

“That’s not what they’re sharing.”

Cox besides confirmed reports that Robinson had a romanticist narration with his transgender roommate, who was transitioning from antheral to female.

“This spouse has been incredibly cooperative, had nary thought that this was happening, and is moving with investigators close now,” helium said.

Cox said helium was not alert if Robinson’s narration had immoderate relevance to the assassination, but that authorities were investigating.

“We’re trying to fig it out. I cognize everybody wants to cognize precisely why, and constituent the finger, and I wholly get that. I bash too,” helium said.

Kirk, the person and cofounder of younker activistic radical Turning Post USA and a adjacent state of Trump, was changeable dormant connected Wednesday during a speaking quality astatine Utah Valley University.

A cardinal fig connected the governmental right, Kirk was described successful media profiles arsenic a “rock star” among young conservatives, and played a pivotal relation successful driving the younker ballot successful Trump’s November re-election.

A polarising figure, Kirk was lionised by conservatives arsenic a defender of accepted values and a champion of escaped speech, but seen by liberals arsenic an incendiary fig who stoked hatred towards radical minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.

While some Republican and Democratic leaders person condemned Kirk’s murder, the sidesplitting has drawn attraction to the utmost governmental polarisation pitting mundane Americans against 1 another.

In the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, immoderate left-leaning Americans took to societal media to celebrate, prompting outrage from conservatives and the motorboat of online campaigns to get radical deemed disrespectful of Kirk’s representation fired from their jobs.

On the right, immoderate figures invoked the rhetoric of retribution and war.

“If they won’t permission america successful peace, past our prime is to combat oregon die,” tech billionaire Elon Musk said connected X.

Trump, who swiftly denounced the rhetoric of the “radical left” aft Kirk’s killing, has declined opportunities to accent the request for unity and debar partisan blasted since the assassination.

Speaking connected Fox News’s Fox & Friends connected Friday, Trump sought to overgarment left-wing extremism arsenic worse than extremism connected the right.

“The radicals connected the close oftentimes are extremist due to the fact that they don’t privation to spot crime,” Trump said.

“The radicals connected the near are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”

In an interrogation with NBC News connected Saturday, Trump said that portion helium would similar to spot the state heal, “we’re dealing with a extremist near radical of lunatics, and they don’t play just and they ne'er did”.

Kirk’s assassination has prompted fears of further unit amid a documented summation successful politically motivated attacks.

According to a tally by the Reuters quality agency, the US experienced astatine slightest 300 instances of governmental unit betwixt the January 6, 2021, riot astatine the US Capitol and the 2024 statesmanlike election, marking it retired arsenic the worst play for specified unit since the 1970s.