Legal experts say members of a Discord chat where Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin posted a confession are unlikely to face criminal charges unless prosecutors can prove they actively participated in or aided the crime. The FBI is reviewing the chatroom’s users as part of its investigation into the murder of the conservative activist.
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect in the case, reportedly posted to Discord after the assassination, writing, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all… It was me at UVU yesterday… I’m sorry for all of this.” The FBI confirmed the message came from Robinson and has been collecting data on other users in the same chatroom. However, experts say the mere act of seeing or not reporting a confession does not meet the legal threshold for criminal complicity.
According to Eugene Volokh, a law professor at UCLA and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, users who saw Robinson’s message after the attack are not criminally liable unless they were involved in planning or supporting the act. “You can’t be punished just for not alerting authorities after reading a post,” Volokh said. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy echoed that assessment, noting that criminal charges require clear evidence of agreement or support for the crime in advance.
Discord, the platform used for the post, confirmed Robinson’s account and said there is no evidence the assassination was planned or organized on their platform. Investigators believe some planning may have taken place via other private, phone-based applications.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that “scores” of Discord users are being investigated, but added that agents are working through proper legal channels, including search warrants, to access the data.
