Slain conservative icon Charlie Kirk’s accused killer jumped on chat platform Discord not long before he was taken into custody, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Tyler Robinson, charged with aggravated murder and six other counts in the assassination of the Turning Point USA founder, appeared to confess to being Kirk’s killer, Discord and law enforcement officials told multiple news outlets.
“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all,” an instant message allegedly from Robinson’s Discord account advised. “It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.” Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at the Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
The Washington Post reported that Discord has turned over the communications to law enforcement officials.
Robinson’s reported communications mark another red flag for an online platform that Sen. Jim Banks asserts has been “used to radicalize young men, abuse children, and plan acts of domestic terrorism.”
On Tuesday, The Indiana Republican sent a letter to Discord CEO Humam Sakhnini regarding “recent connections to violent acts in the United States,” including the alleged shooter’s use of the app to discuss Kirk’s murder.
“I write to you with grave concern over Discord’s connection to violence throughout the country. Just last week, Tyler Robinson was arrested for the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk,” the letter opens. “It has since been revealed by law enforcement that Robinson used Discord to communicate with his roommate in the wake of the assassination about the shooting, even sharing details such as where he left his weapon. The press has also reported that Robinson confessed in a group chat that he committed the murder.”
‘Take Out Charlie Kirk’
A Discord official told The Hill that “the messages referenced in reporting about weapon retrieval and planning details were not Discord messages, and likely took place on a phone-number based messaging platform.”
The roommate in question is Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s trans lover. Robinson reportedly messaged Twiggs to “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard” as law enforcement officials were pursuing Kirk’s killer in an intensive manhunt. A note on the keyboard declared, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it,” said Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray, who shared the messages at a court hearing Tuesday.
“I am still ok my love, but am stuck in orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson wrote to Twiggs, according to the prosecutor. Robinson’s roommate and trans love interest in the communications seems stunned by the accused murderer’s admission.
‘Dark Places’
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Robinson’s friends have told law enforcement officials “that here was that deep, dark internet, Reddit culture and these other dark places of the internet, where this person was going deep.”
In his letter to Sakhnini, Banks noted that Kirk’s murder is not Discord’s first connection to extremism. In 2024, the Washington Post reported that cybercriminal gang 764 “thrives on Discord.” The “nihilist violent extremist group,” has used the platform to groom and sexually assault children, Banks said.
“764 encourages children to engage in self-harm and to create and send sexual content. Videos and police records document the use of Discord to carry out this abuse,” Banks wrote.
Accused teen school shooter Colt Gray posted a threat on Discord a year before police say he fatally shot two students and two teachers and injured nine others last fall at Apalachee High School near Atlanta. FBI investigators long before determined the account belonged to Gray, 13 at the time, who threatened on the popular gamer platform that he would shoot up a middle school.
School shooter Dylan Butler, 17, reportedly announced on his Discord account that he was “gearing up” just moments before he began his assault on a small-town Iowa high school in January 2024. Butler fatally shot sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger, and wounded four other students before killing himself. NBC News reported the killer was a member of a Discord chat group called, “School Massacre Discussion.”
“Discord has had ample notice that its platform is being used to radicalize young men, abuse children, and plan acts of domestic terrorism,” Banks wrote in the letter to the platform’s chief executive officer. “Discord’s continued connections to cases involving predators and deranged killers concerns me greatly.”
‘Come Clean’
The Indiana senator said Discord “must come clean about the use of its software by extremists and explain what steps it is taking to fix this issue.” He has asked the company to respond to four questions by Sept. 26.
- What measures does Discord have in place to ensure that users are not planning violent attacks or abusing minors?
- What steps does Discord take if it becomes aware a user is planning a violent attack?
- Has Discord turned over all of Tyler Robinson’s Discord messages to law enforcement?
- Prior to the shooting of Charlie Kirk, what steps did Discord take to fortify its app in light of reports of its use by cybercriminal gang 764 and school shooters?
On Tuesday, Discord told The Hill that it has identified an account belonging to Robinson.
“We have not found or received any evidence that the suspect planned this incident on Discord or promoted violence on Discord,” the company claimed. “We continue to work closely with the FBI and local authorities, and will continue to deliver prompt responses to their requests for assistance.”
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
