The killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on September 10 shocked the United States and has become the subject of widespread conspiracy theories.
Prosecutors say 22-year-old Tyler Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder and linked to the shooting by a rifle with his DNA evidence and text messages recovered from his phone.
Highlights
- Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder; linked by DNA on rifle and incriminating text messages about Charlie Kirk's shooting.
- Over 10,000 social media posts claim Israel orchestrated Kirk's killing, fueling a major politically-charged conspiracy.
- Video clips and suspicious hand signals at the rally sparked theories of inside agents, though experts caution against jumping to conclusions.
- Official state media from Russia, China, and Iran have amplified conspiracy narratives, while AI-generated images have spread disinformation online.
But online, speculation has gone far beyond the official narrative. Here are some of the most circulated theories and claims, along with what is actually known so far.
Charlie Kirk's shooting has become the subject of widespread conspiracy theories
Image credits: Trent Nelson/Getty Images
The shooter cannot be seen carrying a rifle coming down from the roof, yet the rifle was found
One recurring theme is confusion about the timeline of the suspect’s movements and why surveillance clips show different outfits. On her podcast, Candace Owens walked listeners through the publicly released footage and timelines, pointing to apparent contradictions.
Owens noted that early footage published by TMZ shows a man in a maroon T-shirt walking outside university grounds hours before the shooting, while authorities say the suspect arrived on campus at a later time wearing a similar outfit.
Owens said, “TMZ shows him already walking. We’re supposed to believe he parked his car and then walked onto campus.”
The inconsistencies have generated online theories that either more than one person was involved or that footage has been selectively released.
Authorities allege Robinson changed clothing before and after Kirk’s assassination.
Image credits: FBI
“Israel killed Charlie Kirk”
Perhaps the most politically-charged claim online is that Israel was somehow behind Kirk’s death.
Supporters of this theory cite Kirk’s positions on foreign policy and reference comments from other conservative figures, including Candace Owens, who suggested his criticism of Israel may have made him a target.
The idea took off almost immediately after the Utah Valley University event, with an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report estimating that more than 10,000 posts on X linked Israel to the assassination within the first two days.
There were more than 10,000 X posts linking Israel to Kirk's assassination
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Adding fuel to the speculation was a viral claim that a book titled The Shooting of Charlie Kirk was published on Amazon the day before his death, and had details about where, when, and how Kirk would die. Conspiracy theorists also connected it to the bigger Israel angle.
Lead Stories fact-checked the claim, with Amazon confirming the book actually went live late on September 10, the same day as the shooting, and that the earlier September 9 date shown online was a “technical issue.” The title has since been removed from the site. The book was also likely written by AI, an AI-detector revealed.
The Palestine Chronicle also examined Kirk’s actual views on Israel, noting that while he had started to cautiously question Zionist influence on U.S. politics, he remained firmly pro-Israel. Kirk had denied the existence of Palestine, visited Israeli settlements, and advocated a pro-Israeli position. Even his mild criticisms were far from a genuine break.
The “patsy” or “fall guy” in the crowd theory
Another popular line of speculation suggests that the man charged may have been a fall guy while the real shooter escaped. Proponents of this theory point to confusion in the crowd and allege that one or more people on the ground acted as decoys.
This overlaps with the bizarre case of George Zinn, a 71-year-old man who shouted, “I shot him, now shoot me,” after the attack. Zinn was arrested immediately, but later admitted that his confession was false. According to police, he said he did it to draw attention away from the actual shooter.
George Zinn falsely claimed to be the shooter to draw attention away from the real shooter
Image credits: X/leftoversushiii
Zinn has since been charged with obstruction of justice as well as possession of child sexual abuse material after investigators searched his phone.
Many have also been sharing a video of a man running toward a parking lot, allegedly showing the shooter escaping. But, NBC Philadelphia fact-checked that the video was from July 28, more than a month before Kirk was shot.
The “convenient” trans angle
According to the charging documents, Robinson’s mother said he had become more left-leaning, pro-gay, and trans-rights oriented.
Robinson’s partner is transitioning from male to female, and Kirk has vehemently criticized transgender rights. According to the charging documents, Robinson’s family asked why he allegedly shot Kirk, and he “explained there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate.”
But conspiracy theorists have claimed that using this reason as a motive is a deliberately constructed “angle” to frame the shooting as a culture-war story.
The documents released by officials also include a string of text messages between Robinson and his partner, where Robinson allegedly shares details about the shooting. Many have claimed that the text messages seem fabricated by authorities.
They alleged that the language and tone of the messages do not match someone of Robinson’s age, and that the account of the shooting was too detailed to be believable.
“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,” Robinson writes in one alleged message.
Steve Bannon, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former adviser, said on his podcast that he was “not buying” the texts, and that they were “too stilted, too much like a script”.
“Agents” signaling to the shooter
Some social media users have claimed that in video clips from the rally, supposed “agents” can be seen making hand signals or gestures in the moments leading up to the shooting.
In a video widely shared online, two men are standing behind Kirk as he is being asked a question. One of them lifted his right hand and adjusted his cap. He then did something with his right ear and brought his left hand, which was holding his mobile phone, slightly forward.
A second later, the second person next to Kirk, speculated to be his personal security guard, adjusted his black shirt sleeve on his bicep and made a hand signal.
Soon after, Kirk was shot.
A veteran law enforcement officer, Stan Kephart, claimed to The Daily Mail that those were indeed hand signals. But he cautioned against jumping to conclusions, saying that the agents were possibly “checking off with somebody else, perhaps a supervisor, saying everything is okay.”
When Conspiracies Go Viral Online
In the age of technology, many of these conspiracy theories have been the cause of fabrication, making it important to verify claims online.
According to an analysis by NewsGuard, official state media in Russia, China, and Iran mentioned Kirk 6,200 times in one week, framing the killing as a conspiracy.
Russia, China, and Iran have been framing Kirk's murder as a conspiracy
Image credits: News Guard
Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah said two days after the shooting, “What we are seeing is our adversaries want violence. We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world, that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence.”
Shortly after Kirk’s assassination, AI-doctored images and videos began circulating online, including an image of a security photo captured on the day, “enhanced” using AI. Many have compared that picture to Robinson’s mugshot, claiming they were two different people.
Image credits: Utah Governor’s Office
This theory has been debunked as the enhancement created an AI-generated person who does not actually exist.
AFP identified several such posts made using AI. In one image, Robinson is wearing a shirt with an eagle and an American flag design, but AFP notes that in the “enhanced” version, the symbol on his chest is warped, indicating that the image was generated using artificial intelligence.
What is actually known
- The suspect: Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder and six other offenses, including felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and a violent offense committed in the presence of a child.
- The weapon: Prosecutors say a bolt-action rifle gifted by Robinson’s grandfather was used in the shooting. It was found near the scene with Robinson’s DNA.
- Motive evidence: Text messages recovered from Robinson’s phone show him allegedly sharing details with his partner. However, prosecutors have not yet shared a motive.
Authorities say bullet casings engraved with political messages, such as “Hey Fascist! Catch!” were also recovered near the scene alongside the rifle.
The message is an apparent reference to the “Eagle 500kg bomb” in Helldivers 2, a third-person shooter game.