MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox spoke on the Sunday talk shows about the suspected shooter, named Tyler Robinson. He said Robinson is not cooperating, but authorities believe he had left-leaning political beliefs and disliked the conservative influencer. Here's what Cox told NBC's "Meet The Press." And he specifically warned about speculation.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
SPENCER COX: We're all drawing lots of conclusions on how someone like this could be radicalized. And I think that those are important questions for us to ask and important questions for us to answer.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
We're joined now by KUER's Elaine Clark in Salt Lake City. Elaine, what did Governor Cox say about the suspect?
ELAINE CLARK, BYLINE: Well, the governor pointed to the suspects online activities. In addition to that, leftist ideology he talked about. He said Robinson had been spending a lot of time on the deep web. And so by way of example, Cox pointed to writings on the shell casings of the rifle that was allegedly used in the shooting. And he said that represented what he called the memeification that is happening in our society today. And one of the big new details he talked about on Sunday was about Robinson's romantic partner.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, so who was that person, and were they involved at all?
CLARK: So the governor said this person was not involved and that they were shocked by what happened. Now, he didn't name the person, but he did say they were being very cooperative. So this person who's called a roommate in the suspect's probable cause affidavit was also, quote the governor here, "a boyfriend who was transitioning from male to female." We don't know any more than that right now or whether transgender rights had anything to do with Kirk's assassination. We could get more information on that tomorrow, though. That's when the suspect is expected to be charged in state court.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So while we're waiting for more information on all that, what has Utah's governor been saying about social media and divisiveness?
CLARK: Well, the governor is not shy about speaking out about social media. He says it is fueling outrage and getting users addicted to outrage. He also accused big social media companies of doing it just to make money. And here's what Cox suggested on Sunday.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
COX: We have to turn it off. We have to get back to community, caring about our neighbors, the things that make America great.
CLARK: Cox called social media a cancer.
MARTÍNEZ: He mentioned community, so how are people responding to all this?
CLARK: Well, there was an NPR producer at a church service on Sunday in Orem. That's the city where the shooting happened Wednesday at Utah Valley University. This is an evangelical church. It's called CenterPoint, literally within walking distance from campus. People at the service were filled with emotions. There were tears. There were hugs. Let's listen to Pastor Mike Smith as he talked to the very large crowd.
MIKE SMITH: Whatever you walked in here with, whatever difficult emotions you carried in with you, it's OK. It's OK to be not OK today. We get it. And we're grieving with you. We're hurting with you, and we're here for you.
CLARK: In addition to the sermon, there was a table set up that provided counseling resources. And the church had a uniformed police officer at this service. That's something the pastor said they had never had before.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. That's KUER news director Elaine Clark in Salt Lake City. Elaine, thank you.
CLARK: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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