Tyler Robinson, the alleged killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, joked in a group chat of about 20 friends on the Discord platform. He even claimed that a lookalike had done the deed.
The New York Times revealed this, publishing messages shared by a peer—protected by anonymity for fear of retaliation—who had known Robinson in high school and had maintained contact with him via chat. The day after Kirk's killing, when the FBI released photos of the alleged killer, the acquaintance attached the images and tagged him with the text "wya"—"where you at?"—with a skull emoji, suggesting he resembled the wanted man. Robinson responded within a minute, writing that his "lookalike" was trying to "get him in trouble."
After Tyler joked that the gunman was his double, another user suggested the group could turn him in to collect the $100,000 reward offered by the FBI. "Only if you give me a cut," Robinson quipped. Another message read, "Whatever you do, don't go to McDonald's anytime soon," a reference to Luigi Mangione's arrest during his escape from a McDonald's location after the murder of an insurance company CEO in Manhattan. Robinson agreed, seemingly jokingly replying, "I'd also better get rid of this poster and the exact replica rifle I have lying around."
When another user suggested that Kirk's killing would prompt President Trump to send the National Guard to Utah, the suspect responded: "In a red state??? Nah, clearly the killer was from California." Tyler also appeared attentive to the investigation, which initially hinted at the discovery of transgender-related engravings on the bullets: "I heard there was something about transgender stuff on the ammo, but they're not releasing any photos or specific quotes, and the claim wasn't supported by the FBI agent, just some guy in the press room." A few minutes later, another macabre quip: "I'm actually Charlie Kirk, I wanted to leave politics so I faked my death, now I can live my dream life in Kansas."
(Unioneonline)