AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Prosecutors in Utah yesterday said they intend to file murder charges against the 22-year-old man who they believe assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The suspect, Tyler Robinson, is being held in a county jail. For more on this ongoing story, we're joined by NPR's Bobby Allyn in Salt Lake City. Good morning, Bobby.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So what's the latest in the case against the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson?
ALLYN: Well, Utah County prosecutors said they intend to file aggravated murder charges against him on Tuesday, when he is also set to make his first court appearance. The charges carry the possible punishment of the death penalty if convicted. And most of what we know about the case so far is outlined in an affidavit that was filed after Robinson's arrest. And it says Robinson discussed with his family that Charlie Kirk was coming to Utah Valley University and that he really disliked Kirk, telling them that Kirk was, quote, "full of hate and spreading hate." Authorities have video and photo evidence of what they say is his escape from a campus roof following the single shot that hit Kirk in the neck about 150 yards away and killed him.
RASCOE: Now, this shooting happened at a public amphitheater with thousands in attendance. What security breakdowns may have allowed this to happen?
ALLYN: Yeah, that's a huge question right now. There were only six police officers working the event. Kirk had his own security, but public safety experts have questioned whether a bigger security staff was needed at an event attended by more than 3,000 people. I talked to one of them, Keanan Cantrell (ph). He's a big Kirk fan and says he was about 50 feet away from the stage when Kirk was fatally shot. Cantrell says he thinks the university could have done more to fortify the event site.
KEANAN CANTRELL: How the crap did security mess this up so badly that this was able to happen? No one checking bags, no metal detectors. We didn't see really any security.
ALLYN: Now, Utah Valley University's campus has been closed since the shooting, but it's expected to reopen on Monday.
RASCOE: Back to the suspected shooter, Robinson, what have we learned about him since he was apprehended?
ALLYN: Yeah, Robinson grew up in a small town in southwestern Utah. His family matched the profile of many people in that part of the state - avid hunters, his parents were registered Republicans. Growing up, Robinson was a gifted student. His mom had posted to Facebook about how he was a 4.0 average in middle school, did well in high school and received a college scholarship, but he only completed one semester. As for Robinson's own politics, he was registered to vote in Utah, but he had no party affiliation.
RASCOE: Do we know anything else about Robinson's beliefs or his motives?
ALLYN: Yeah. There's been tons of speculations about phrases investigators discovered were engraved in bullet casings, believed to be Robinson's. One of them was an antifascist slogan, but others appear to be video game and online meme culture references. Online chatter has really focused on whether the etchings should be viewed as left-wing messages or far-right messages. There are these groups to the right of Charlie Kirk who often criticized him, and some are linking the phrases to those ideologies, while others see the phrases as leftist slogans.
I think, right now, Ayesha, debate is just causing a ton of noise. It's really hard to say definitively one way or another, but what seems much more clear is that based on many social media posts, Robinson appears to have been very active in quite fringe and edgy communities on the internet, and he was very into video game culture.
RASCOE: And we've been hearing from Charlie Kirk's family, right?
ALLYN: Yeah. Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, released a message online Friday about her commitment to continue the mission of Turning Point USA, the activism group and media empire Kirk ran. Here's some of that message.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ERIKA KIRK: If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea. To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won't. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die.
ALLYN: Yeah. And Turning Point social media channels have added millions of new followers since Kirk's death. Erika Kirk saying the movement will carry on comes after Turning Point announced that Kirk's social media and podcast efforts will continue on.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Bobby Allyn. Thank you so much for your reporting.
ALLYN: Thanks, Ayesha.
(SOUNDBITE OF PURRPLE CAT'S "NEUTRAL ZONE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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