Federal investigators are delving into the connections between Ermiya Fanaeian, the founder of the pro-gun LGBTQ group Armed Queers SLC, and accused sniper Tyler Robinson, who faces charges for the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10 at Utah Valley University.
Ermiya Fanaeian, who identifies as transgender and has a history of political organizing with communist activism, is at the center of this investigation. Law enforcement sources have confirmed that Fanaeian's activities and associations are under scrutiny to ascertain whether there was any involvement in aiding Robinson in the attack.
Armed Queers SLC, which Fanaeian founded, promptly removed its online footprint following the assassination. Nevertheless, the FBI had already gathered substantial open-source information from the group, including posts penned by Fanaeian, the child of Iranian immigrants. These posts often featured calls for "Revolution + Trans liberation in our lifetime!" and endorsed violent uprisings as a means to political change.
In a past interview with the University of Utah, Fanaeian referred to the Stonewall Riots as an example, endorsing the notion that "Sometimes violence, protest, and really riots and those kinds of loud rebellions must take place for tangible change."
While federal officials have not concluded if Robinson had accomplices in the Kirk shooting, the FBI's probe has expanded to examine potential "extended network" connections to Armed Queers SLC and its affiliates.
Despite her radical political stance, Fanaeian has been acknowledged by mainstream entities. In 2022, she received the "7 for 17" award from Utah Global Diplomacy, a nonprofit linked to the U.S. State Department, for her contributions to "gender equality." However, following the recent developments, all public mentions of this accolade have been expunged.
Archived content also reveals Fanaeian sharing a stage with Senator Elizabeth Warren during a 2019 presidential campaign event in Salt Lake City. Additionally, in 2020, Fanaeian initiated the Salt Lake City chapter of Pink Pistols, a national LGBTQ gun-rights organization. Her views on firearms evolved from supporting Joe Biden's proposal to ban AR-15s to owning one herself.
After parting ways with Pink Pistols, Fanaeian established Armed Queers SLC and continued her activism. The group held a 2023 lecture on "queer resistance" at the University of Utah, which is in proximity to the location of Kirk's assassination. Promotional materials for the event depicted a young woman armed with an AK-47.
Fanaeian's activism also extended to the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a group that embraces Marxist ideology and is funded by Neville Singham, a tech millionaire with connections to the Chinese Communist Party. Singham is known for backing various left-wing causes.
