Topics: Charlie Kirk, Crime, News, Police, US News, Tyler Robinson, Social Media
Candace Owens has invited speculation on the absence of CCTV footage showing the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk 'turning himself into police'.
Kirk was shot dead on 10 September as he addressed a rally at a college campus in Utah, and since then Tyler Robinson has been charged with seven counts, one of which is aggravated murder.
Far-right campaigner Kirk was widely known for his hardline views on subjects such as the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, which he called a 'mistake', as well as women's bodily autonomy, LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence, and immigration.
In one statement in 2023, the activist had said that he believed that preserving Second Amendment rights is 'worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year'.
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Now, fellow far-right commentator and ally of Kirk, Candace Owens, has sparked a conspiracy theory about his death on social media.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, she wrote: "Footage of Tyler Robinson turning himself into police does not exist. The footage simply does not exist anymore or…maybe it never existed in the first place. You decide!"
Her remarks were prompted by an investigation by 2News on the investigation into Kirk's death which looked into the absence of footage of Robinson turning himself in to police at Washington County Sheriff’s Office a few days after Kirk's killing.
When the outlet approached the police, they were told that the office did not have a record of this CCTV as the office only retains footage for a 30-day period after it is initially recorded.
A records officer told the outlet: “Our office does not have any applicable records responsive to this request, as the surveillance footage is no longer available after the 30-day retention period."
When 2News asked if the department had shared the footage with another agency, they were reportedly told: “It is my understanding it was never sent out to any agency.”
Responding to a previous request, the police department had also said that 'Tyler Robinson did not go to or enter the jail area'.
The absence of the video has been met with concern by defence attorney of 26 years Rudy Bautista, who works on capital cases, as it could be used as potential mitigation for Robinson to prove that he co-operated with law enforcement by handing himself in.
“If in fact it has been destroyed and not preserved, it's very concerning," Mr Bautista said. "And if it has, then it's very concerning that they're telling you they don't have it. If they no longer have it, I would have expected to say that this video has been provided to the Utah County law enforcement."
