Tyler Robinson's Grandmother Said Her Grandson Has Never Touched a Gun

It's hard to sift through everything coming out about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected of assassinating Charlie Kirk. The attack happened on Sept. 10, 2025, while Kirk was at Utah Valley University for a Turning Point USA event. As its founder, Kirk spent much of his time visiting college campuses for a stunt that involved him inviting people with opposing views to "prove him wrong." Kirk was fatally shot while being asked about transgender people and gun violence.

In the aftermath of the shooting, many conservative politicians, including President Donald Trump, blamed the "radical left" for the murder. There were numerous posts on social media saying so before a suspect was arrested. The president delivered a statement from the Oval Office, during which he said, "We’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair and they never did." Once Robinson was arrested, we learned that according to his grandma, the family is Republican.

The day Robinson was arrested, his grandma spoke with the Daily Mail about her grandson and their family, telling the outlet she was shocked by the news. Debbie Robinson told the outlet that Robinson is extremely shy and never spoke to her about politics. She confidently said most of her family members are Republicans. "I don't know any single one who’s a Democrat. I'm just so confused."

It was Debbie's son Matt Robinson who turned her grandson in. "My son, his dad, is a Republican for Trump," she explained. Debbie also insisted that Robinson never showed an interest in guns and as far as she knows, has never touched one. "I don't think he ever shot a gun, to tell you the truth," she said. "He doesn't hunt, he's never liked anything like that. I know he doesn't own any guns," adding that he couldn't be that good of a shot.

This is contradictory to screenshots of photos shared on social media that were taken from Robinson's mother's since-deactivated Facebook account. In one photo, posted by @blakepccarter on X, Robinson is posing with a military-grade gun in front of a jeep. There are more pictures from the same event in which Robinson's siblings are also posing with guns. Back in December 2017, one of Robinson's brothers reportedly got a build-it-yourself rifle kit for Christmas, per @benryanwriter.

Robinson's grandmother also described him as a "wonderful child" who has "never, ever gotten in trouble in his life." She went on to say that he's just a "very shy, good kid," and doubled down on the idea that this isn't the person she knows. "There's no way he could be violent," said Debbie. "I've watched that child grow up and I can't imagine that it would ever, ever, ever be him."

Debbie also revealed that she hadn't heard of Kirk until he was assassinated. "I was sad, very sad for the wife. I read a bunch about it," she said. Despite Debbie insisting that Robinson wasn't political, other family members said otherwise. One claimed that the 22 year old knew who Kirk was and knew he was coming to Utah Valley University. They alleged that Robinson said Kirk was "full of hate and spreading hate.'