Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox confirmed Sunday that the 22-year-old man accused of killing far-right commentator Charlie Kirk was living with his transgender partner. During an interview on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash, Cox said suspect Tyler Robinson was romantically involved with his roommate, a trans woman. He said,
“Yes. I can confirm that. I know that has been reported, and that the FBI has confirmed that as well – that the roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female.”
The governor stressed that Robinson’s partner had no role in the crime and is “incredibly cooperative, had no idea this was happening, and is working with investigators right now.”
Cox urged caution when speculating about Robinson’s motives. He said, “I know everybody wants to know exactly why, and point the finger. And I totally get that. I do too, and so I just want to be careful, as I haven’t read all of the interview transcripts, and so we’ll have to wait and see what comes out.”
That did not stop the ultra-rightwind social media world from exploding on Trans community.
Charges against Robinson are expected on Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal retracted a report that falsely claimed “transgender ideology” was engraved on shell casings from the crime scene. Instead, Cox said the inscriptions referenced an anti-fascist Italian song and internet memes.
In the aftermath of Kirk’s death, right-wing voices quickly blamed transgender people. Donald Trump Jr. even claimed trans people were “worse than terrorists.” But research shows trans people are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. And despite the political scapegoating, they account for less than one percent of mass shootings in the U.S.
