Robinson, suspected of killing Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University event, is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. His legal team is also seeking to ban news cameras from the courtroom. Remarkably, Robinson has yet to enter a plea, despite the incident occurring over seven months ago in front of thousands.

The hearing is poised to center around a debate concerning the public’s First Amendment rights to access court proceedings versus Robinson’s constitutional right to a fair trial. This delicate balance will be a key focus of the court’s deliberations.

Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk and his official representative, has called for the court to ensure substantial media coverage throughout the legal process. In support of media transparency, both local and national media groups, including Fox News, have filed requests to keep cameras in the courtroom.

Robinson is accused of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, during a public speaking engagement at Utah Valley University last September. The incident has attracted significant media attention, making courtroom coverage a contentious issue.

Judge Tony Graf has granted permission for a news camera to be present at the hearing, with stringent guidelines prohibiting the recording of private dialogues or capturing the faces of Robinson’s family, who are anticipated to occupy the front row in court.

Tyler Robinson, left, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)

At least one expert witness is expected to testify on the potential impact of social media and widespread news coverage on the jury pool, with Robinson’s defense bringing in a prominent social psychologist named Bryan Edelman.

Edelman has worked on a number of major cases, including playing a role in Bryan Kohberger’s successful motion for a change of venue in the Idaho student murders and the trial of Buffalo supermarket mass shooter Payton Gendron.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride addresses the court during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in Fourth District Court in Provo on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Robinson is accused of shooting Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in September 2025. He allegedly climbed to a rooftop across the courtyard from where Kirk was speaking and fired a single shot from his grandfather’s Mauser rifle.

Bystander video shows the bullet struck Kirk in the neck — in front of a crowd of roughly 3,000 people. He died from the injury.

4th District Court Judge Tony Graf speaks during a waiver hearing for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, in Utah County Court in Provo, Utah, on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News)

Surveillance video shows a man in dark clothing dropping down from the far side of the building running off campus.

Prosecutors have said campus police found marks left behind on the gravel rooftop moments after the shooting “consistent with a sniper having lain [there] — impressions in the gravel potentially left by the elbows, knees and feet of a person in a prone shooting position.” They also found the suspected murder weapon in the woods in the direction the suspect ran.

Prosecutors have said that text messages between Robinson and his romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, allegedly discuss wanting to retrieve the weapon.

Erika Kirk appears emotional after President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to her late husband Charlie Kirk, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

“Stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet,” Robinson allegedly wrote in the hours after the murder. “Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still.”

Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.

Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of the top charge against him, aggravated murder. He is also accused of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.

People run after shots were fired during an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

Kirk, 31, was a married father of two.

A preliminary hearing, in which prosecutors will have to show probable cause for bringing the case, is scheduled for next month. It’s already been put off repeatedly in the wake of Robinson’s arrest in September 2025.

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