Provo, Utah
Over the final week, attorneys, information reporters and spectators gathered in a Provo, Utah, courtroom as prosecutors tried to persuade a choose to permit the case in opposition to the 23-year-old man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk to proceed to trial.
The proceedings had been steadily slowed down by arguments over whether or not sure displays could possibly be admitted into proof and publicly broadcast through a digicam in the courtroom. Still, it was a pivotal second, providing the fullest image but of the case in opposition to Tyler Robinson, some ten months after the death of the 31-year-old conservative firebrand and co-founder of Turning Point USA.
During the five-day preliminary hearing, the Utah County Attorney’s Office displayed campus surveillance video across the time of the capturing, alleged messages from Robinson prosecutors describe as a confession and a videotaped interview with a key witness: Robinson’s former roommate and romantic associate.
The protection, in the meantime, labored to undercut the forensic proof and lift questions on regulation enforcement’s dealing with of the investigation. Robinson’s attorneys referred to as three witnesses to testify in regards to the outcomes of DNA and ballistics testing, however Robinson himself didn’t take the stand, selecting to heed his attorneys’ recommendation, his protection group stated.
Now that either side have introduced a few of their proof, the choose should decide whether or not there’s possible trigger to help the fees: aggravated homicide, felony use of a firearm, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent act in the presence of a kid.
If Judge Tony Graf finds there’s enough proof to proceed to trial, Robinson might be arraigned and enter pleas. Graf is anticipated to rule after oral arguments scheduled in early September, shortly earlier than the anniversary of Kirk’s loss of life.
Kirk was killed September 10, 2025, when he was fatally shot in entrance of about 3,000 folks throughout a Turning Point USA occasion at Utah Valley University in Orem. Graphic movies of the capturing flooded social media and politicians on either side of the aisle condemned the killing – one instance of the political violence roiling America in current years.
Prosecutors have stated they intend to seek the death penalty in opposition to Robinson, who turned himself in to police the day after the capturing.
Here are 5 issues we discovered in the hearing that shed new mild on the case:
The most anticipated proof got here Thursday, when prosecutors introduced a previously recorded video interview with Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s roommate on the time of Kirk’s killing.
Twiggs, who was additionally Robinson’s romantic associate, instructed prosecutors the defendant expressed remorse the day after the capturing, hours earlier than he surrendered to police.
“He started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn’t done it, and then kept going around and just doing stuff, I think to keep himself busy or distracted or something,” Twiggs stated in the interview performed and recorded in April. Parts of the interview had been redacted because of an order by the choose.
Tyler Robinson stated he “wishes he hadn’t done it,” roommate tells prosecutors
Lance Twiggs, former roommate of Charlie Kirk capturing suspect Tyler Robinson, described in an interview proven in courtroom how Robinson expressed regret after Kirk’s loss of life, testimony prosecutors might use to steer a choose there’s sufficient proof to place Robinson on trial for the assassination of Kirk. NCS’s Nick Watt stories.
Twiggs is a pivotal witness for prosecutors, and never just for the alleged dialog described in the interview. The state has additionally pointed to text messages they are saying Twiggs and Robinson exchanged hours after the capturing, arguing Robinson’s alleged texts quantity to a confession.
The first message, despatched from Robinson round 11 p.m., directed Twiggs to “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard.”
Twiggs described discovering a word from Robinson, which was entered into proof and browse aloud in courtroom, although its contents had been beforehand revealed in courtroom information. According to an affidavit, the word learn, in half:
“If you are reading this per my text, then I am so sorry. I left the house this morning on a mission, and set an auto text. I am likely dead, or facing a lengthy prison sentence. I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”
Twiggs then texted Robinson, “you weren’t the one who did it right????” per the messages proven in courtroom.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly replied.
Twiggs’ lawyer instructed NCS his consumer has “cooperated consistently with the investigation.”
Video surveillance confirmed Robinson on campus earlier than and after capturing, investigator testified
Prosecutors performed surveillance footage that allegedly confirmed Tyler Robinson on UVU’s campus 4 occasions in the hours earlier than and after Kirk was killed – together with one video an investigator stated confirmed Robinson’s automotive close to the scene after midnight, some 12 hours after the capturing.
Robinson was first captured on digicam round 8:30 a.m. the day of the capturing, when footage confirmed his automotive pulling right into a parking storage, based on testimony by Sergeant David Hull, a former investigator with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation.
After he left the storage on foot, Robinson visited the courtyard the place Kirk’s occasion was to happen that afternoon and spoke with Turning Point USA representatives, the investigator testified. He left campus round 9:25 a.m.
Cameras captured Robinson on foot about an hour later, when Hull testified he bought meals on campus and walked into a close-by wooded space. When he returned, he not had a backpack, the investigator stated, and he left shortly earlier than 11 a.m.
Prosecutors: Video reveals Tyler Robinson day of Charlie Kirk capturing
Prosecutors on Tuesday confirmed new surveillance footage that allegedly reveals Tyler Robinson’s actions on Utah Valley University’s campus the day of Charlie Kirk’s deadly capturing. Judge Tony Graf permitted this proof to be proven in courtroom after the protection earlier objected to its publication, citing considerations about their means to get a good trial. NCS’s Nick Watt stories.
Robinson was seen once more on campus surveillance footage round 11:53 a.m., a few half-hour earlier than Kirk was killed, the footage confirmed. Hull famous Robinson was carrying totally different garments and strolling with a limp not seen in the sooner footage.
Prosecutors additionally introduced surveillance footage captured from a distance that Hull testified confirmed Robinson working throughout the rooftop of the Losee Center, a constructing on UVU’s campus close to the courtyard the place Kirk’s occasion was going down.
According to Hull, that footage confirmed Robinson working throughout the rooftop and crawling to the nook of the constructing, the place he laid susceptible round 12:22 p.m.
Kirk was shot round 12:23 p.m.
Hull stated the footage then confirmed Robinson – who gave the impression to be carrying an object – run again throughout the roof and decrease himself down earlier than going into the close by wooded space.
That night time, round 12:30 a.m. on September 11, surveillance cameras captured a car stopping and trying to show onto a campus street. The car belonged to Robinson, Hull stated.
“When that vehicle was stopped, it actually made contact with an officer who was doing security detail,” Hull testified.
“There was something about the interaction that made (the officer) make a note for the license plate of the vehicle,” the investigator stated.
When the officer discovered the same automotive was suspected to be tied to the capturing, he ran the data from the cease to establish the male driver. The automotive was registered to Tyler Robinson and his mom, Hull stated.
Prosecutors didn’t clarify in this week’s hearing the importance of Robinson’s alleged presence close to the scene that night time. But in textual content messages with Twiggs, Robinson allegedly expressed a want to retrieve his rifle, which a regulation enforcement witness testified was found in a wooded space close by.
Prosecutors argued DNA and ballistics testing hyperlink defendant to the scene
Prosecutors displayed the outcomes from ballistics and DNA testing they argue hyperlinks Robinson to the alleged homicide weapon: a Mauser Model 98 .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle discovered wrapped in a towel in a wooded space close to campus.
The rifle contained one spent cartridge casing and three unfired rounds, which had been every engraved with messages, stated Sergeant Jennifer Faumuina, an investigator with the State Bureau of Investigation referred to as to testify by prosecutors.
Roughly a month earlier than Kirk’s killing, Twiggs stated Robinson requested for a Dremel, a instrument used for sanding or grinding, to engrave bullets for an upcoming household searching journey.
Police later seized a Dremel and several other cartridge casings – which had been the identical sort of spherical discovered in the rifle – from the house he shared with Twiggs, Faumuina stated. One of the casings had the phrases “TEST SHOT” engraved on it, based on a photograph displayed in courtroom.
The cartridge casings discovered inside Robinson’s residence had been fired by the rifle discovered close to campus, based on a US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report learn in courtroom. An ATF evaluation additionally decided the recovered Dremel instrument made the engravings on the cartridges discovered with the rifle and inside Robinson’s residence.
However, an ATF evaluation concluded a bullet jacket fragment recovered from Kirk’s physique “could not be identified or excluded” as having been fired from the rifle.
“The result of the comparison was inconclusive,” the report stated, a conclusion the protection has beforehand prompt could possibly be exculpatory.
ATF examiner Samantha Karner, the report’s creator, was referred to as to testify by the protection and stated she was “unable to say one way or another” because of a scarcity of microscopic marks on the bullet jacket fragment.
Experts additionally performed DNA testing on totally different elements of the rifle. Testing revealed it was a minimum of 1 trillion occasions extra possible Robinson contributed DNA to those samples than not – the very best statistic permitted below her laboratory’s tips, ATF DNA part chief Caitlin Oliver testified.
There was additionally “very strong support” for the conclusion that DNA collected from the towel wrapped across the gun and a screwdriver discovered on the roof of the Losee Center originated from Robinson and Twiggs, stated Amanda Bakker, a DNA forensic examiner for the FBI.
Defense questioned investigation’s dealing with in first glimpse of its technique
Before this week, Robinson’s protection saved its technique near the vest. Pretrial proceedings had been largely targeted on technicalities – comparable to elevating a perceived battle of curiosity on the a part of the prosecution and trying to get cameras banned from the courtroom.
But glimpses of a technique emerged in the preliminary hearing. Robinson’s attorneys questioned the forensic proof and grilled regulation enforcement officers about their dealing with of the investigation, highlighting potential leads that had been discarded.
For occasion, former UVU Officer Chris Bagley testified below questioning by prosecutors he noticed an empty pistol holster in the grass following the capturing. But he disregarded it as a result of he thought the gunshot he heard got here from a rifle, he stated.
Defense lawyer Kathryn Nester famous a report written by one other officer and launched throughout Hull’s testimony stated a gun was discovered in the holster.
She requested Hull a few bullet discovered on the roof of a special constructing on campus and different individuals who had been questioned early on. Hull stated the bullet had not been fired and was ejected from an officer’s rifle and that the opposite folks interviewed had been cleared by investigators.
Nester additionally referred to as into query the safety protocols surrounding the occasion, asking Bagley about what number of officers had been assigned and different preparations. Bagley testified six of the division’s 15 officers had been working, that he was unaware of a safety debrief forward of the occasion and that no magnetometers or drones had been used to display screen the gang.
Defense lawyer Michael Burt, in the meantime, tried to discredit the DNA and ballistics stories, questioning forensic witnesses about semantics in lab insurance policies and the standard of the proof collected.
Kirk’s widow, family members name proof ‘overwhelming’ – and ask for it to be made public
The hearing this week was attended every day by Kirk’s family members, who stated in a press release Friday the final a number of days had been “difficult.”
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who now leads Turning Point USA, was seen crying at occasions, dabbing her eyes with tissues and being consoled by the folks round her.
She briefly exited the courtroom on just a few events, together with when the shooting was described by Bagley, the previous UVU officer, and when movies of the capturing had been proven to the choose and the events. That footage was not displayed publicly.
Following the conclusion of testimony Friday, Kirk’s household filed a request for a “prompt” ruling on whether or not the case can proceed to trial “based on the overwhelming evidence presented.”
They additionally launched a press release calling the method “an important step forward in the pursuit of justice for Charlie.”
“As difficult as these last few days have been, it brings our family comfort to know that the world has witnessed the overwhelming evidence of what occurred to Charlie that day,” the household stated.
The Kirks have been vocal supporters of preserving the courtroom open to the general public and the media as a method to combat conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death – and that want was reiterated this week because the courtroom weighed what displays could possibly be broadcast to the general public.
Kirk’s lawyer requested throughout Wednesday’s hearing for any proof introduced in courtroom to be made public with out redactions and, after Graf denied that request, adopted it up with a written discover to the courtroom that night time.
“To receive evidence in a manner shielded from those seated in the courtroom – as happened today – is not transparency,” the lawyer, Jeffrey Neiman, wrote. “And in the absence of transparency, speculation and conspiracy theories related to the tragic assassination of Mr. Kirk will continue to proliferate in the public domain, breeding doubt and distrust in the judicial system.”
The discover requested all proof that had not been displayed publicly be proven once more – and that further proof launched through the case even be made public.
Graf denied the request Thursday morning.
“Nothing will ever undo the loss of our beloved Charlie,” the household stated in its assertion Friday. “As this case moves into its next phase, we pray that truth will continue to be heard through a process that is fair, transparent, and grounded in the facts.”