The FBI is reportedly investigating a series of suspicious social media posts that appeared to hint at Charlie Kirk’s assassination before it happened. Mr Kirk, a conservative activist with close ties to US President Donald Trump, was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University last week. Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on suspicion of murder and is due to appear in court on Tuesday. Utah governor Spencer Cox said the suspect had left-leaning beliefs, disliked Mr Kirk and is being uncooperative in custody.
New reports suggest US authorities have also launched an investigation into a number of posts on X, formerly Twitter, that appeared to demonstrate foreknowledge of the shooting. The posts included references to the date of Mr Kirk’s murder, September 10, more than a month before it happened, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
“Several of the accounts appear to belong to transgender individuals, and at least one of them followed suspect Tyler Robinson’s roommate, with whom Robinson was allegedly in a relationship, on TikTok,” the newspaper said.
One account reportedly tweeted “september 10th will be a very interesting day” on August 6, and quote-tweeted the post with the caption “I plead the fifth” after Mr Kirk was killed.
Another wrote: “Charlie kirk is coming to my college tomorrow [I really] hope someone evaporates him literally. Let’s just say something big will happen tomorrow.”
A third person, whose posts have now been deleted alongside the others, said: “charles fames kirk. mr college dropout does NOT know what’s coming tomorrow. be ready… this isn’t a threat it’s a promise.”
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino refused to rule out the possibility of a wider conspiracy behind Mr Kirk’s death during an appearace on Fox News on Monday.
“Obviously we have a suspect in custody, it’s quite clear, that’s why I’m here discussing this individual,” he said. “However, if this was a larger effort, [if] there was any aiding and abetting, whether it be financial, whether it be someone who knew the specifics of it and failed to report that … we as an FBI, our team, along with our state and local partners, are looking into that.”
FBI director Kash Patel told the network on Monday that DNA evidence has linked Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found near the Utah Valley campus and a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the shot was fired.
Mr Patel also said Robinson had written in a note before the shooting that he had an opportunity to take Mr Kirk out and was going to do it. He added that the note’s contents had been recovered by the FBI after it was destroyed, without revealing further details.