A friend of Tyler Robinson, the man who is accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has confirmed that Robinson was politically left-wing.
Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on Wednesday at Utah Valley University during one of his famous appearances in front of hundreds of college students.
Robinson managed to evade capture for some time, even as law enforcement went into a frenzied manhunt to find him. Ultimately, Robinson was turned in by his family the next day, putting an end to the manhunt and beginning the next chapter in what will be a truly nation-changing tragedy.
As soon as the horrific video of Kirk's killing began to go viral, many immediately began speculating that the assassin was a disgruntled leftist.
That conclusion was supported by the violent rhetoric that Democrats have pushed for years against conservatives. Furthermore, Kirk has been the face of Gen Z's conservative shift, and it was a foregone conclusion that his shooter had political motivations.
A high-school friend of Robinson, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Guardian that Robinson's family was “very hard Republican,” but that Robinson was “the only member of his family that was really leftist."
He went on to explain that during Robinson's sophomore year, he became "more extreme in his political views” and would "always just be ranting and arguing about them."
Robinson is yet another young American who was likely radicalized by the hateful and extreme rhetoric that leftists have pushed over the past decade.
Ever since the 2016 presidential election, Democrats have consistently raised the political temperature with death threats towards President Donald Trump and other figures associated with him.
Democrats have openly called Trump and his supporters a threat to the nation, as well as thrown around terms like "fascist" and "Nazi" with little regard to the truth of the accusation or the radicalization of already mentally unstable individuals.
Last year, President Trump was nearly killed at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and leftists continued to push extreme rhetoric. Charlie Kirk wasn't as lucky as Trump was, and now his wife and daughters are without a father and the nation is in chaos.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) wasted no time in assuring the nation that Robinson would be charged and “held accountable," likely via the death penalty, which is still on the books in Utah.
While justice must be served to Kirk's killer, it also must be recognized that Kirk's killer is merely a symptom of a cancer that has grown out of control.
The left has gotten away with violence and extreme rhetoric for years and many conservatives have warned that someone was going to get killed. The open celebration of Kirk's death by thousands of leftists has made it clear that the time for reconciliation between left and right may be over.
Robinson may be facing the death penalty, but American society is also facing a deadly future and there may be no going back.
