FBI Director Kash Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that investigators are pursuing more than 20 individuals connected to an online chat room with the suspected shooter of conservative leader Charlie Kirk.
Patel confirmed reports during the hearing that Tyler Robinson, 22, who allegedly gunned down the Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO at an event in Utah last week, had participated in a group thread on the messaging platform Discord. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Newsmax on Monday that new evidence suggested the killing might not have been an isolated act but part of a broader network.
“What we’ve already done is start a legal process not just on Discord, so that the information we gathered is sustained and held in an evidentiary posture that we can use in prosecutions should we decide to do so,” Patel said. “And we’re also going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pressed Patel on reports that Robinson’s Discord thread included more than 20 users.
“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,” Hawley said. “Is that fair to say?”
Said Patel: “It’s a lot more than that. We’re running them all down.”
When Hawley asked if the number was “a lot more than 20,” Patel again confirmed: “Yes, sir.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Patel directly if Robinson acted alone. Patel stopped short of ruling out broader involvement, citing “a number of individuals that are currently being investigated and interrogated, and a number yet to be investigated and interrogated, specific to that chat room.”
Kennedy followed up: “So, others could have been involved?”
“Yes, sir,” Patel responded.
Patel’s testimony suggested the investigation could expand well beyond Robinson, raising the possibility of a conspiracy tied to the targeted killing of one of the conservative movement’s most visible figures.
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