Legal experts say members of a Discord group linked to Charlie Kirk’s accused killer are unlikely to face charges unless investigators uncover evidence of direct involvement.
Hours before his arrest, suspect Tyler Robinson allegedly posted in the chat: “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all… It was me at UVU yesterday… I’m sorry for all of this.”
Fox News reported that the FBI is now reviewing the messages Robinson is believed to have shared in the group.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that while some believe agents can instantly see who participates in online group chats, the reality is more complex, with scores of users involved.
“We have to go out there with search warrants so that if prosecutors want to later use this evidence, it’s not tainted by being illegally obtained,” Patel said. “We, the FBI, are running the investigation…on the Discord chat group. There are scores of individuals who are going to be spoken to.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Patel on the FBI’s efforts to identify potential accomplices or individuals who may have influenced Robinson.
“So, in terms of what we do for an interrogation perspective, we go and reach out to the family and community immediately. And we’ve conducted those investigations and interrogations with local law enforcement, and we’re continuing to do that because those closest to the suspect are going to hopefully know the most about the suspect and his beliefs and his ideology,” Patel responded.
“On top of that, unfortunately, it has been leaked that there was a Discord chat. And for those unfamiliar with it, it’s a gaming chat room online that the suspect participated in,” Patel explained.
“So, what we’re doing – and we’ve already done – is serve legal process, not just on Discord, so that the information we gathered is sustained and held in an evidentiary posture that we could use in prosecution should it be decided to do so. And we’re also going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat,” the FBI director continued.
Hawley then inquired about public reports indicating that the Discord thread had up to 20 additional users.
Patel revealed: “It’s a lot more than that, and we’re running them all down.”
Legal scholars state that merely viewing or disregarding a confession online does not constitute a crime.
“It’s not a crime to see people confessing to a crime. It’s not a crime to do nothing about that. You can see or hear someone say, ‘yes, I murdered someone,’ and just ignore it. It’s just not illegal as a general matter to do that,” Eugene Volokh, Professor Emeritus at UCLA Law School and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, told Fox News.
Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy stated on “Fox and Friends” that chat users can only be prosecuted if they participated in or agreed to a plan.
“Looking at these particular chats, it looks to me like…this is kind of after-the-fact where the guy admits to the crime and says in fact that he’s made arrangements to surrender,” he said.
“So, it would be surprising to me if you looked at those people who were in the chats as potential criminal defendants. I would be looking at them as witnesses that might help me, in terms of proving what this guy’s state of mind was in the days leading up to the murder,” McCarthy added.
He noted that in some instances, individuals who receive explicit threats may be legally required to notify police, but said that standard has not been met in this case.
Volokh added that the law demands more than silence or passive participation in an online chatroom.
“There’s got to be something beyond simply hearing the confession and simply doing nothing,” he said.