Text messages allegedly sent by Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of assassinating conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, have been released by prosecutors. The exchanges with his transgender partner, Lance Twiggs, have prompted scepticism online due to their unusually formal and detailed nature.
In the messages, Robinson tells Twiggs to look under his keyboard, where a note reportedly read: 'I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.' Twiggs responds with apparent shock, asking if Robinson is joking. Robinson replies that he is 'stuck in orem' and needs to retrieve his rifle, adding: 'I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age.'
Some social media users questioned the authenticity of the texts, noting that the language and punctuation seemed unnatural for people in their early twenties. Conservative commentator Sadie NC said her sons, aged 21 and 23, told her that people their age 'don't use complete sentences with correct punctuation.'
Others pointed out that the texts closely mirror details from the probable cause affidavit, including references to engraved bullets and a rifle wrapped in a towel. X user Evan Kilgore claimed he ran the texts through ChatGPT, which found them 'most likely fabricated' due to being 'far too detailed, and too incriminating to be real.'
However, Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh suggested the conversation may have been deliberately scripted by Robinson as an alibi for Twiggs. 'The most plausible and sensible theory isn’t that the FBI made up text messages and released them but that the killer and his boyfriend constructed this highly scripted text conversation as an alibi for the boyfriend,' he wrote.
The texts also reference a bystander, George Zinn, who was arrested on obstruction charges, and Robinson's motive: 'I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.' Robinson is alleged to have shot Kirk during a debate at Utah Valley University last week.
