US media had reported that the suspected Utah shooter was in a relationship with a transgender person. The state's governor has now confirmed this. The suspect has"so far not cooperated" with investigators.
The alleged assassin of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk lived with a transgender person, according to the governor of Utah.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Spencer Cox said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" talk show when asked about reports of suspect Tyler Robinson's relationship with a transgender partner."The roommate was a romantic partner, a man transitioning to a woman," Cox said.
"This partner was extremely cooperative, had no idea this was happening, and is currently cooperating with investigators," Cox added. Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on suspicion of shooting Trump supporter Kirk on Wednesday.
Media reports about the relationship sparked outrage among right-wing activists on Saturday. Influencer Laura Loomer, a close Trump confidante, asked if"there is a trans terrorist cell" that "manipulated" Tyler Robinson. She continued,"It's time to call the trans movement a terrorist movement."
Kirk, 31, has repeatedly spoken out against rights for members of the LGBTQ community and has attacked transgender people in particular. He once said,"The one issue that I think is so against our senses, so against natural law, and, dare I say, a pulsing middle finger to God, is the transgender thing that's happening in America right now."
The suspected assassin is apparently refusing to cooperate with investigators."The suspect has not cooperated so far," Cox said on NBC News' "Meet the Press." Robinson comes from a conservative family, but his"ideology" differs from that."There was clearly a left-wing ideology in this assassin," the governor said. US President Donald Trump had already criticized"radical leftists" shortly after Kirk's death.
Cox continued on the TV show that they were receiving information from the suspected shooter's family and friends. The suspect, a Republican, had been in"dark places" on the internet and spent a lot of time gaming, Cox added. When asked by the host whether he believed social media could have played a direct role in this assassination, the governor said:"I believe social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and attempted assassination we've seen in the last five or six years."
AFP/dpa/gub
