FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday confirmed that the investigation into the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk has expanded and that more than 20 people who were chatting with the suspected assassin are being looked into.
During a Senate hearing, Patel told lawmakers that individuals who are under scrutiny are linked to an online Discord chatroom that had been used by the suspect, Tyler Robinson.
“So others could have been involved?” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked.
“Yes, sir,” Patel responded.
“I see the public reports that the Discord thread had as many as 20 additional users,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked Patel. “It sounds like you’re trying to run down all of that to see if that’s accurate, who else may have been on that thread, what they may have known. Is that fair to say?”
Patel told the senator, “It’s a lot more than that, and we’re running them all down.”
Discord is a chat app that is generally used for gaming, but it can be used to communicate through private servers. Officials last week first confirmed that Robinson, who is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday in Utah, was using Discord.
“We’re also going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat,” Patel told the panel.
“Those closest to the suspect are going to hopefully know the most about the suspect and his beliefs and his ideology,” he also said.
“We’re continuing to do that.”
Patel also said that the bureau is “investigating Charlie’s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence.”
Investigators have been piecing together evidence, including a rifle and ammunition engraved with anti-fascist messaging, found after the shooting on Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Kirk, a co-founder of the Arizona-based conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was speaking at the university on one of his many campus visits in which he relished debating just about anyone.
While authorities say Robinson hasn’t been cooperating with investigators, without going into detail, they say his family and friends have been speaking to them. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said over the weekend that those who know Robinson say his politics shifted left in recent years and that he spent a lot of time in “dark corners” online.
DNA evidence has allegedly linked Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found near the Utah Valley campus and a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was allegedly fired, Patel told Fox News on Monday.
Before the shooting, Robinson allegedly wrote in a note that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it, according to Patel.
Cox said Robinson’s romantic partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his political views. But authorities have not said whether that played a role. Kirk was shot while taking a question about mass shooters in the United States.
It’s not clear whether Robinson has legal representation.