None of this fits the description of Tyler Robinson’s formative years now being introduced to the public. It’s a picture of a young man from a conservative family, an academic star who scored 34 on the American College Test (ACT) and graduated high school with a 4.0 grade point average.
Now investigators say he put anti-fascist statements and Antifa markings on the bullets and shell casings used to kill Kirk.
His transgender roommate is cooperating in the investigation, authorities say.
So how did Robinson, 22, get here? His father, a 27-year veteran of local law enforcement, and a youth minister persuaded Robinson to turn himself in. It would seem at some point in his life, their influence became less impactful.
A longtime educator has ideas.
“As a former educator, someone who taught both university and preparatory school, I have to tell you this, it’s very rare that you encounter a hypocritical youth. They are painfully, almost painfully naive and sincere, and they're looking for something to believe in. They're looking for purpose,” Larry Taunton, a columnist and cultural commentator, said on Washington Watch Friday.
“You must be very careful with students that you are not throwing out crackpot ideas because they're all too ready to put hands and feet to your ideas. And what we are seeing across the country is the radicalizing of America's youth,” he told show host Jody Hice.
It’s a very intentional movement because youth have always been at the center of every radical movement, Taunton said.
“When kids are told repeatedly that someone is evil, ‘and we must do everything we can to stop them,’ when comparisons are made to Adolf Hitler, to Nazis, to fascists, a mass murderer, these kinds of things, kids are ready to act.”
Social media makes it much easier to congregate together and share ideas than in days of old.
Robinson was active on “Discord,” a voice, video and text communication platform used by more than 200 million people that is popular with gamers, its website states.
Targeting religious groups
The Department of Homeland Security in last fall’s Homeland Threat Assessment report cited an elevated threat environment where online platforms are used to incite or coordinate violence against religious groups.
Many of the documented cases occur in private, invitation-only, encrypted channels or on other platforms, making detection and public attribution harder.
Discord has become a popular platform to discuss and plan violence. Violent memes and rhetoric have flourished there, The Washington Post reports, calling it a breeding ground for extremists.
“Discord, which is a chat app, is one that he was involved in. And it seems that he was involved with groups that met there that were calling for the extermination of Christians,” Taunton said.
For many young people, the appeal is in being a part of something bigger than themselves. Yet they often don’t grasp the movement.
“They want to become the next Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you see, but they don't understand that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was motivated by something else and understood it in a very different way. Most of these kids don't even have any idea what fascist means,” Taunton said.
Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, was motivated to end the killing of Jews.
Bonhoeffer saw the assassination attempt not as a triumph of violence, but as a tragic last resort to confront a greater evil, a decision he wrestled with deeply, acknowledging the personal cost to his own ethical purity and ministry.
Taunton said his experiences with young students reveal “they don't know what these words are. They just associate it with something evil, and that's because they're being wound up and directed towards these kinds of activities.”
Is violence really bipartisan?
Since Kirk’s death, news coverage has often referenced violence from both political parties, highlighting the killing of state lawmaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband in their Minnesota home in June.
However, the violence is driven by one particular political party, Taunton said.
Democrat leaders like Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and many others made statements condemning the attack on Kirk.
In the larger context of the party, the atmosphere is too toxic to believe the sentiment expressed by some individuals, Taunton said.
“I want to be clear on this point. What (was done) here is exactly what Democrats wanted to do. The crocodile tears we're hearing are not genuine. They want these things to happen. They created the atmosphere for assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, and they continue to create it,” Taunton said.
