I’ll never forget those early days after bringing our oldest son, our first child, home from the hospital.
I’d never really been comfortable holding an infant, but this was different; this was my flesh and blood. He had my first, middle, and last name. And his arrival and naming had added a new appendage to my name: Senior.
Often, I’d watch him sleep and wonder: What will he be when he grows up? Could he be president of our nation? Maybe he’ll pitch in the World Series or play football at the University of Georgia. Perhaps he’ll be a doctor or medical researcher who develops the cure for cancer. Or maybe he’ll be a journalist or a pastor like me. I’d pray that the Lord would make him a follower of Jesus Christ at the earliest possible age.
Even though I well understood we live in a world filled with wickedness and affliction, never, not once, did I allow my mind to wander in the morally opposite direction. It never crossed my mind that he might be an alcoholic or a violent husband or a murderer. It was unthinkable: Could I be raising killer?
By God’s grace, my son is a godly man, a godly husband and, much to my delight, a sports journalist as I used to be (and he’s a freelance writer for The Courier). He loves his wife, and he loves his Savior. His life is deeply embedded in a faithful local church. Someday (and I’m hinting soon!), he will give me another name: grandfather. But I know, if not for God’s grace, it could’ve been tragically otherwise.
TRAGEDY NO. 1: Charlie Kirk’s Senseless Assassination
I’m writing one week after the senseless and horrifyingly public assassination of Charlie Kirk, a murder that has hit our culture with the force of a nuclear warhead. My two sons and two daughters, as with many evangelical young people, adored him. Charlie’s bold defense of conservative values and his Christian faith made him a hero to them and to millions of their peers.
And it has shaken my wife and me. Hardly a waking hour has passed that we haven’t mentioned something related to Charlie’s murder. With this awful circumstance, it feels like the tectonic plates of culture have shifted beneath our feet. I remember a similar feeling on 9/11/01, perhaps the only other time I’ve experienced this emotion. Maybe it’s the video — the world virtually watched it unfold in real time. I’m certain this is not good for us, but that’s another column for another time.
Like many, I’m praying it sets in motion the greatest revival since the great awakenings in the U.S. and England. I hold most of Charlie’s views both politically and as an evangelical Christian. He was killed while participating in one of our most sacred rights as American citizens, speaking truth, speaking convictions, freely — as guaranteed by our constitution.
Like millions of other evangelicals, we are praying for Charlie’s family — his widow, Erika, his two children, his parents, his extended family, and all those involved in leading his organization, Turning Point USA. We are broken in the aftermath of this unspeakable crime and its outcome for Charlie’s family and our country. Who’s going to fill his shoes?
Given the circumstances, given Charlie’s life mission, given his success in reaching younger generations for truth and for Jesus Christ, his is a tragedy that reverberates like few we’ve seen in recent times.
TRAGEDY NO. 2: The Prodigal Turned Assassin
But there’s a party within this tragedy I’ve heard few mention: What about the family of Charlie’s accused killer? His parents and extended family have presumably seen the same news coverage as us, except they’ve experienced the bitter end of it all firsthand.
Little more than 33 hours following Charlie’s murder, law enforcement officials captured the young man who is alleged to have been his assassin.
Most everything we do in America these days is captured on video, and the killer’s movements were no different. Seconds after allegedly firing the deadly shot, there he was, running across a rooftop and vaulting off the roof onto the grass below. There he was, walking nonchalantly up a sidewalk to avoid appearing to be what he was: a desperate criminal fleeing the scene of his act. He crossed a busy street and vanished into the woods.
The next morning, President Trump informed the nation the alleged killer was in custody. Details emerged rather quickly. He lived four hours from the crime scene. His father had worked in law enforcement. The elder Robinson learned that his son was allegedly the shooter and talked him into surrendering to police. Father took his son to the police station, where he was arrested.
In the days following, we learned more. The alleged killer was from a conservative family that supported Donald Trump for president. Media reported them to be Christians. Tyler Robinson had been an excellent student who earned high grades and a college scholarship.
He’d been raised as a conservative, raised in church, but in recent months had fallen prey to the satanic draw of the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. Details emerged showing him in romantic relationship with his roommate, a young man “transitioning” to identify as a woman. The ammunition fired at Charlie Kirk and ammo presumably intended for the same target were engraved with pithy political taunts and symbols affirming transgender ideology.
Kirk’s message was strong on upholding God’s Word on gender and marriage. The kill shot was fired seconds after a questioner lobbed a query about transgender ties to recent mass shootings.
Now, imagine you are Tyler Robinson’s father. Twenty-two years ago, you held this young man as an infant. You dreamed big dreams. You wondered how great his life would be. You wondered whether he might lead your college football team to glory. You even giggled inwardly at the thought of this baby with your last name, your DNA, occupying the Oval Office. Maybe he would do something legendary with his life.
But now look at the life Tyler Robinson has built — overnight. His mother told media that over the past year, he has gradually drifted leftward, far from his conservative upbringing. Social media seems to have helped radicalize him into a sympathizer with the dark left, a fringe element that helped Robinson see Charlie Kirk as an enemy to be rubbed out. You know the rest of the story — the tragedy of a life captured by Satan to do his diabolical will.
The Forgotten Family
Once the details emerged surrounding Tyler Robinson — his family circumstances, his lifestyle choice, and more — I began to think of his parents, particularly his father. I am a father of four, including two sons. I cannot fathom the pain those Robinsons must be suffering in the wake of this darkest of acts their son has perpetrated.
What emotional vertigo must Mr. Robinson have felt once it became clear that his beloved son was the one in the suspect photos the FBI released moments after the shooting. What sorrow must this dad have felt when his son finally admitted he’d been the shooter.
No doubt, this dad loved his son. Parents most always love their kids unconditionally. Now, he would have to turn his boy over to law enforcement. This young man, once the baby Mr. Robinson had held in his arms, once the teenager bringing home good grades and perhaps playing sports, now faces a possible death sentence for his crimes.
There’s no way Tyler’s father could’ve ever imagined he was raising one who would become a notorious alleged murderer, he was raising a boy who’d gun down a beloved public figure for proclaiming the very worldview the father had raised him to believe.
Mr. Robinson didn’t ask for this, didn’t raise his son to think or act this way.
Indeed, we must mourn the loss and pray for Charlie’s wife and children, his parents, his friends, and everyone at TPUSA. We must make sure his legacy and the gospel he believed burns even more brightly — fueled by Charlie’s martyrdom.
But let us not neglect to pray for the Robinson family. I can’t imagine how upside down their world has become. Theirs is a double tragedy.