Heavily redacted police-interview footage involving Lance Twiggs, the transgender romantic partner of Charlie Kirk murder suspect Tyler Robinson, was shown in dramatic fashion Thursday during Robinson’s pre-trial hearing.
The recording came from an April 2026 interview conducted by Utah police, during which investigators questioned Twiggs, 23, about the events surrounding Kirk’s killing at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.
In the video, Twiggs said he and Robinson first met in 2023 after becoming roommates, and that their relationship turned romantic about two months later. He told police that on the morning Kirk was killed, Robinson left the home early, saying he was scheduled for a long work shift.
Twiggs said he did not hear from Robinson again until around 11 p.m. that night, when Robinson allegedly instructed him to check beneath his keyboard for a handwritten note. According to court documents, the note stated: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Twiggs told investigators that Robinson returned to their home by the following morning and appeared agitated, pacing around while steering clear of specific questions about Kirk’s assassination.
He said Robinson ultimately admitted responsibility for the killing. Twiggs recalled breaking down in tears and telling Robinson he wished he “had not done it,” after which Robinson allegedly said he planned to surrender to authorities.
Twiggs was thrust into the national spotlight after prosecutors claimed Robinson had left him the apparent confession, along with text messages discussing efforts to conceal the murder weapon.
Officials said Twiggs cooperated with investigators soon after and agreed to provide DNA for testing. He also turned over text messages in which Robinson allegedly wrote that he believed Kirk “spread too much hate.”
Tyler Robinson’s roommate and trans lover Lance Twiggs is seen for the first time in his police interview. It was played at Robinson’s preliminary hearing on Thursday
Bombshell footage of the police interrogation of Lance Twiggs, 23, the former roommate and lover of Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin Tyler Robinson, was played in court Thursday
Robinson, 23, (seen in court in December) had attempted to force Twiggs to testify in person
Robinson seen in court on Thursday moments before Twiggs’s testimony was played, appearing to wipe sweat from his brow
In his police interview shown at Thursday’s hearing, Twiggs said he was not especially interested in politics, and said he and Robinson never previously discussed Charlie Kirk before the shooting.
He said Robinson would occasionally rant about Donald Trump, but said the extent of their discussions about LGBTQ rights was about legislation the president was pushing.
Prosecutors pushed to release Twiggs’ police interview video as they allege Robinson assassinated Kirk because he was upset over the influencer’s conservative political views.
Debate over showing the video led to a lengthy back-and-forth as Robinson’s defense attempted to block Twiggs’ recorded statements and force the suspect’s former lover to testify in-person, which would have allowed him to be cross-examined.
On Wednesday, Utah District Judge Tony Graf said he would allow the video to be played, but 15 minutes of the video would be redacted.
It is unclear what was on the redacted portion of the footage, but Graf said he had concerns it could influence future jurors in the case.
Graf’s decision to redact 15 minutes of the footage led to a scathing legal filing from Kirk’s widow Erika, who slammed the court for a lack of ‘transparency’ in the high-profile case.
‘To not be transparent here, to not be open, to not let the world see what happened, will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,’ Erika Kirk’s lawyer Jeffrey Neiman said in the filing after making the same argument in court.
Graf said he viewed the Twiggs interrogation footage in its entirety, and while part of it would be withheld, he would consider the entire video in his determination of whether prosecutors can bring Robinson to trial.
Prosecutors said Twiggs was interviewed in the aftermath of the Kirk shooting as well, but the footage played in court this week would be from Twiggs’ second interview on April, 20, 2026.
Twiggs went into hiding following the assassination and was not seen for five months, until the Daily Mail tracked down the elusive roommate in Texas in February
Twiggs was granted limited immunity in the case, meaning the statements he made to investigators cannot be used against him by prosecutors.
Twiggs was living with Robinson in a townhouse in St. George, Utah, at the time of Kirk’s assassination. Twiggs has not been charged with any crime related to the assassination.
Twiggs went into hiding following the assassination and was not seen for five months, until the Daily Mail tracked down the elusive roommate in Texas in February.
The 23-year-old was reportedly kicked out of his strictly Mormon home when he was 18 over disagreements about religion, drugs and gaming, but he appeared to have reconciled with his family as he moved south to be with them.
The 23-year-old was reportedly kicked out of his strictly Mormon home when he was 18 over disagreements over religion, drugs and gaming, but he appeared to have reconciled with his family as he moved south to be with them
Twiggs grew up in St. George, Utah, with strict Mormon parents. His father Tyler is a hot tub salesman, and his mother is an insurance broker
Twiggs attended a high school for academically gifted teens where he excelled as a talented pianist
In the aftermath of the shooting that shocked the nation, prosecutors say Robinson sent a number of texts to Twiggs, including one telling him to look under his computer keyboard to find a handwritten confession note.
The note read: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,’ according to court filings.
When Twiggs responded in disbelief and asked how long Robinson had been planning the shooting, he responded, ‘A bit over a week, I believe,’ prosecutors said.
Robinson said he believed Kirk ‘spread too much hate,’ and texted Twiggs about his rush to flee the scene and contain evidence, according to court filings.
‘If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence,’ Robinson allegedly wrote.
‘Going to attempt to retrieve it again… I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints.’
Authorities said when they found Robinson’s rifle, they discovered unspent shell casings engraved with political messages, including one that read, ‘Hey Fascist! CATCH!’
In his alleged texts, Robinson referenced these engravings, writing: ‘If I see “notices bulge uwu” on Fox News I might have a stroke.’
Robinson capped off his messages by warning Twiggs, ‘Don’t talk to the media please… if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent,’ the filings said.
Authorities said Twiggs showed the messages to investigators when questioned, and has cooperated with the case.
Investigators seen at the townhouse Twiggs and Robinson shared in St. George, Utah, the day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated
Twiggs was a talented and academically gifted teenager, but allegedly fell on hard times after his high school graduation and was kicked out of his family home
Twiggs is not accused of being involved in Kirk’s murder
Charlie Kirk seen moments before he was shot dead in front of a huge crowd at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025
Twiggs also voluntarily provided a mouth swab of his DNA to help the investigation, which has been raised in Robinson’s pre-trial hearings this week as his DNA was found on a towel wrapped around the alleged murder weapon.
Those who knew Twiggs said at the time that they were stunned to see the quiet, video game-obsessed Utah native thrust into national infamy by the case.
Twiggs grew up in a Mormon family in St. George, Utah, as the son of a hot tub salesman father and insurance broker mother, and attended a high school for academically gifted teens where he excelled as a talented pianist.
Twiggs and Robinson went to high school just four miles from each other in Utah, but appeared to only cross paths after Twiggs graduated from Dixie Success Academy in 2022.
While a student at the high school, Twiggs was known as a talented pianist who performed Gershwin’s Prelude No. 1 in a recital in 2020, per The New York Post.
His brother was also a talented musician who played Chopin at the recital, and at the time Twiggs’ mother gushed on Facebook: ‘The kids music had been like a peaceful river flowing through our home for many, many years. I feel so grateful.’
But reports say Twiggs fell out with his strictly Mormon family after he graduated and moved into a townhouse in St. George, with Robinson. It is not clear how the pair first met.
A relative told Fox News that his father kicked him out aged 18 because Twiggs ‘wasn’t being respectful’ and he was being ‘problematic.’
The relative said issues with ‘gender identity’ played a role, but ‘the real reason he was acting out was because he was using drugs and alcohol, and was addicted to gaming.’
Twiggs, seen in images he shared to social media, once wrote on Reddit that he ‘was told I was possessed by a demon’ by his family when they kicked him out aged 18
Robinson, 23, allegedly killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025, and told Twiggs at the time he did it to stop the influencer’s ‘hate,’ prosecutors say
The relative added that there were ‘other roommates’ in the home at various times, but they all eventually moved out until it was only Twiggs and Robinson living together.
A Reddit account reportedly belonging to Twiggs told a similar story, as he wrote: ‘Was told I was possessed by a demon and then within 30 mins kicked outta the house because I started laughing and wouldn’t go to the bishop for a blessing.
‘Later found out they just didn’t like me and were looking for a way to get me out of the house. Wasn’t even 18 at the time.’
However, the account that Twiggs became addicted to drugs was disputed by former friend Braylon Nielsen, who said Twiggs fell out with his family because he rejected their Mormon faith.
‘I loved Lance. His parents kicked him out of his house, and he lived with us. His parents never sat right with my family,’ she told the Post last year.
She described Twiggs as a ‘straight A’ student who was ‘very hardworking’ as a teenager, but his parents couldn’t accept his antagonism to their religion.
After meeting Robinson and moving in together, the pair reportedly began a romantic relationship.
It is unclear what Twiggs did for a living, with a relative saying he was ‘maintaining a job and able to pay rent,’ but he had dreams of being a professional video game player.
