Preliminary Hearing on the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

A preliminary hearing regarding the potential trial of Tyler Robinson for the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, wrapped up on Friday. State District Judge Tony Graf now has a substantial amount of critical evidence to review.

During the five-day hearing, several key pieces of evidence were presented:

• Surveillance footage showed the suspect on campus the day of the shooting, altering his clothing, seemingly preparing for a position on a rooftop overlooking the site where Kirk was shot, and later falling from the roof while fleeing the scene with an unidentified object in hand.
• Robinson was allegedly seen eating at Chick-fil-A on campus, though he was not a student there, and interacted with staff from TPUSA.
• Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s partner, provided a video deposition stating that the individual in the footage strongly resembled Robinson.
• Twiggs also testified that Robinson left their apartment unusually early on the shooting day and returned the following morning, appearing emotional and expressing regret about his actions.
• The significance of Twiggs’ claim that he supplied Robinson with tools to engrave ammunition was heightened by the discovery of bullets engraved with messages like “Hey, fascist! Catch me” and “If you read this, you’re gay, LOL.”
• Text messages exchanged by Robinson and his partners reportedly discussed engravings on the ammunition, including one that alluded to a phrase about Fox News.
• In these conversations, Robinson allegedly acknowledged killing Kirk, expressing that “enough is enough” about Kirk’s “hate,” along with plans to retrieve a rifle and leave no evidence.
• A Sergeant from the Utah Department of Public Safety indicated that DNA found on a towel linked to the suspected weapon matched Twiggs and was likely another match with Robinson.
• David Hull, a former investigator, reported that on September 11, a police officer spotted a man in a vehicle associated with Robinson near Campus Drive.
• A forensic biologist testified that DNA evidence extracted from various parts of the alleged murder weapon was predominantly consistent with Robinson’s DNA.

On Friday, an enlarged version of the footage allegedly depicting Robinson on a “sniper’s perch” was shown in court, although it wasn’t broadcast to the public due to a media photographer breaching a court order the previous day.

Handwritten notes from Robinson to Twiggs emerged, expressing regret: “If you’re reading this… I set up automatic texts. I could be facing a long prison sentence. I went after Charlie Kirk.” This was already part of public knowledge from a March-issued search warrant, but the defense raised concerns over the leaked footage.

Robinson did not take the stand during the pretrial hearing. The hearing is scheduled to continue on September 1, offering both sides a chance to present closing arguments to Judge Graf about whether Robinson should face trial.

Robinson is facing severe charges: aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, violent crimes committed in the presence of children, and multiple counts of obstruction of justice linked to allegedly directing Twiggs to delete messages and remain silent during police questioning.