Does a photo spread virally on social media show Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: This is a photo of Jack Bellows, a cochair of the Salt Lake Democratic Socialists. During the manhunt for the person who shot Charlie Kirk, someone suggested Bellows might be the person of interest who appeared in blurry security camera images. The suspect, identified as Tyler Robinson, has since been taken into custody. Bellows' photo is still circulating, mislabeled as a photo of Tyler Robinson.
The photo appears in a post (archived here) published by @EliAfriatISR on X on Sep. 12, 2025. It was captioned:
🚨BREAKING: The suspect in the murder of Charlie Kirk was identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
His father was the one who turned him in after the son confessed to him that he was the killer.
This is the photo in the post at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/EliAfriatISR/status/1966504959958020561.)
At the time of writing, Sep. 12, 2025, the suspect had been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, and he had been taken into custody. But on Sep. 11, 2025 the identity of the suspect was still a mystery. A user on 4chan's /pol/ (Politically Incorrect) forum made a post (archived here) including a photo of Bellows and security camera photo for comparison. It read:
This is my guess.
Jack Bellows, cochair SLC DSA.
This is how that post appeared at the time of writing:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from boards.4chan.org/pol/thread/515562546/this-is-my-guess.)
The Utah Governor's Office released mugshot photos (below) which have appeared in Sep. 12, 2025 news reports such as nbcnews.com, "Suspect in Charlie Kirk's killing is identified by officials as Tyler Robinson".
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-charlie-kirk-shooting-tyler-robinson-rcna230504.)
