Two very different sets of Charlie Kirk text messages drew public attention after the conservative commentator was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University. The first set is the confession Tyler James Robinson, the accused shooter, sent to his roommate and romantic partner in the hours after the killing. The second set is Kirk’s own private messages, released by Candace Owens weeks later, in which he complained about Jewish donors and, years earlier, told her he expected to be assassinated. The two sets of texts have driven the criminal case and much of the political argument that followed Kirk’s death.
Robinson’s Confession Texts to His Roommate
According to charging documents filed in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court, Robinson left a handwritten note under his keyboard before the shooting that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”1Utah County Attorney. State of Utah v. Tyler James Robinson, Information His roommate, Lance Twiggs, found the note and texted him. What followed is now the backbone of the prosecution’s case.
The exchange, reproduced in the charging information:1Utah County Attorney. State of Utah v. Tyler James Robinson, Information
- Twiggs: “What?????????????? You’re joking, right????”
- Robinson: “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.”
- Twiggs: “you weren’t the one who did it right????”
- Robinson: “I am, I’m sorry”
Robinson then went into detail. He said police had initially detained the wrong people and that he believed he had slipped away. Asked how long he had been planning the attack, he answered, “a bit over a week I believe.” He said he had “had enough of his hatred,” referring to Kirk, and wrote that “some hate can’t be negotiated out.”2CBS News. Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing Confessed in Text Exchange With Roommate
The messages also laid out the mechanics of the crime. Robinson told Twiggs he had hidden the rifle “in a bush where I changed outfits,” wrapped in a towel, because a lockdown kept him from retrieving it as planned. He worried about fingerprints and about his father’s reaction to the loss of what he called his grandfather’s rifle, writing that the FBI had already released a photo of the weapon and that “it is very unique.” He also discussed the ammunition he had engraved with phrases, calling the inscriptions “mostly a big meme” and joking that if he saw one on Fox News he might “have a stroke.”1Utah County Attorney. State of Utah v. Tyler James Robinson, Information
At the end of the exchange, Robinson told Twiggs to “delete this exchange,” to avoid the media and police, and to ask for a lawyer if questioned. He wrote, “you are all I worry about love,” and said he planned to turn himself in through a neighbor who worked as a sheriff’s deputy.2CBS News. Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing Confessed in Text Exchange With Roommate
Robinson’s Discord Messages
Robinson confessed a second time on Discord. When a friend in a group chat noticed Robinson resembled the suspect in FBI-released photos and asked where he was, Robinson replied, “My doppelganger is trying to get me in trouble.”3Los Angeles Times. Charlie Kirk Shooting Turns Spotlight on Discord Later, at 7:57 p.m. MDT on September 11, he sent a different group chat a longer message: “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all… it was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.” He told the group he was surrendering to a “sheriff friend” and thanked them for the “good times and laughs.”4Forbes. Charlie Kirk’s Suspected Killer Texted About Chance to Take Out Conservative Activist
Discord turned the messages over to law enforcement under a search warrant. Authorities said they had seen no evidence that the shooting itself had been planned on the platform; the logistical details moved over a phone-number-based messaging service.3Los Angeles Times. Charlie Kirk Shooting Turns Spotlight on Discord
How the Texts Figure in the Motive Case
Prosecutors have treated Robinson’s texts as the clearest window into why Kirk was killed. In addition to telling Twiggs he had “had enough of his hatred,” Robinson told his parents after his arrest that “there is too much evil and the guy spreads too much hate.”5ABC News. Tyler Robinson Set to Face Formal Charges in Shooting Death FBI Director Kash Patel said Robinson’s actions were “based on his political, left-leaning beliefs” and “his hatred for what Charlie stood for.”6NBC News. Tyler Robinson Hearing, Charlie Kirk Suspect
Robinson’s mother told investigators he had become more political in recent months, leaning left and focusing on gay and transgender rights. Twiggs is transgender, and Robinson had been a Trump supporter in high school.7CNN. Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect The engraved ammunition recovered at the scene included phrases such as “Hey fascist! Catch!” and references to the antifascist anthem “Bella Ciao,” though Robinson described the inscriptions to Twiggs as “mostly a big meme.”8The New Yorker. Charlie Kirk and Tyler Robinson Came From the Same Warped Online Worlds
Twiggs cooperated with investigators and received use-immunity for a recorded statement given on April 20, 2026, meaning the statement cannot be used against Twiggs in any future prosecution. No charges have been filed against Twiggs, who officials said appeared to have no prior knowledge of the shooting.9Snopes. Tyler Robinson Roommate10Salt Lake Tribune. Defense Wants to Cross-Examine Tyler Robinson’s Roommate
Kirk’s Leaked Texts About Jewish Donors
In October 2025, Candace Owens published screenshots from a group chat in which Kirk vented about pro-Israel donors. Kirk wrote that he had “just lost another huge Jewish donor” worth $2 million a year because Turning Point USA would not disinvite Tucker Carlson from an event. He added that “Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes” and said donors were “leaving me no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause.” The New York Times reported that the donor who pulled the $2 million was tech mogul Robert Shillman.11The Forward. Jewish Donors Play Into All the Stereotypes, Charlie Kirk Wrote in Leaked Text Messages
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet confirmed the messages were authentic, calling them “consistent with public frustrations he voiced many times,” and said the organization had turned the texts over to the FBI as part of the murder investigation. Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer, who was on the group chat, described the messages as Kirk “blowing off steam in a private group chat setting.”11The Forward. Jewish Donors Play Into All the Stereotypes, Charlie Kirk Wrote in Leaked Text Messages
Owens used the texts to suggest Kirk had made powerful enemies among pro-Israel figures, and conspiracy theories emerged linking the texts to his killing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly called those theories “insane” and “false.”12The Jerusalem Post. Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens Feud Over Leaked Text Messages
The 2018 Texts in Which Kirk Expected to Be Killed
Owens also aired, on her podcast, private text messages she had exchanged with Kirk dating to April 6, 2018. In them, Kirk said he believed his work with Turning Point USA could get him assassinated. “I am not sure if I will live to see the end of this revolution,” he wrote. He described a persistent sense that he “might get wiped out at any time,” calling it “a quiet knowing” rather than fear, and said he dreamed about it often. He added, “I might be Moses tho. I might not see this whole thing through lmao.”13AOL News. Charlie Kirk Predicted Own Assassination
Kolvet confirmed those messages were also real.14The Hill. TPUSA’s Andrew Kolvet Confirms Charlie Kirk Texts Revealed by Candace Owens Are Real Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, pushed back on Owens’ broader framing that Kirk had spent his final hours predicting his death. “He was not messaging people the day before saying, I’m going to be murdered… someone’s going to kill me. He didn’t say that. And I had his cell phone, didn’t say that,” she said. She acknowledged that the couple and their team received frequent, serious threats, but said their final night together was spent in “prayer, gratitude, and surrender to God’s will.”15Times of India. Erika Kirk Debunks Candace Owens Claim About Charlie Kirk’s Final Messages
Where the Texts Fit in the Criminal Case
Robinson, 22, faces seven counts in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court in Provo: aggravated murder, felony use of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.16NBC News. Murder Suspect in Charlie Kirk Shooting Tyler Robinson17CNN. Tyler Robinson Charlie Kirk Cameras Hearing The witness-tampering counts track directly to Robinson’s instructions to Twiggs to delete their exchange, avoid police, and ask for a lawyer. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 6 through 10, 2026, before Judge Tony Graf Jr., with Robinson represented by court-appointed lead counsel Kathryn Nester.18CBS4 Local. Lead Defense Attorney Appointed for Tyler Robinson19ABC7 News. Judge to Decide Key Hearing for Man Accused of Killing Charlie Kirk As of mid-2026, Robinson had not entered a plea and had not been arraigned.
Kirk’s own leaked texts are not part of the criminal charges against Robinson. TPUSA provided them to the FBI for the broader investigation, but prosecutors have pointed to Robinson’s confessional texts, his handwritten note, and his statements to his parents as the evidence of motive, not to anything Kirk wrote.