Tyler Robinson Challenges Prosecutors as Charlie Kirk Assassination Case Expands

PROVO, Utah – Tyler Robinson, 23, the man charged in the alleged assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last year, is scheduled to appear in court Monday as a judge begins weighing whether the state has presented enough evidence to move forward.

Unlike cases that begin with a grand jury indictment, which typically unfolds behind closed doors and without defense attorneys challenging evidence at that stage, Robinson was charged by information. That process requires prosecutors to present their case publicly at a preliminary hearing and establish probable cause.

Robinson’s defense team will have the opportunity to question witnesses during the proceeding. However, the standard prosecutors must meet is far lower than at trial: they need only show probable cause supporting the charges, not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That higher burden would apply later before a jury.

Kirk, 31, a father of two, was addressing a Turning Point USA event before thousands of young attendees when he was fatally shot in the neck by a sniper’s bullet. His widow and parents are expected to attend the hearing as the case moves through this critical early stage.

According to prosecutors, investigators allegedly recovered Robinson’s DNA from several pieces of evidence, including the trigger of the suspected murder weapon — his grandfather’s Mauser rifle — as well as a towel found wrapped around it, three of the four bullets inside the gun and a screwdriver located near the suspected rooftop sniper position.

Prosecutors are also expected to rely on digital evidence, including alleged admissions made through text messages and communications on the Discord app.

Police recovered the rifle in a patch of woods near the UVU campus, along the suspect’s escape route. Robinson is accused of sending text messages to his lover, Lance Twiggs, about wanting to retrieve the rifle, and law enforcement sources have said he is believed to have come face-to-face with an officer manning the perimeter nearby.

“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, whom Robinson allegedly left a handwritten note confessing to the crime, is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged.

While the suspect’s lover won’t take the witness stand at the week-long preliminary hearing, prosecutors are expected to play a video of his interview with police.

While Robinson’s defense played up the fact the ATF was unable to conclusively match the bullet that killed Kirk to the Mauser, analysts couldn’t rule it out either. They found it was a consistent caliber and recovered a spent casing that did match.

Witnesses are also expected to place Robinson at the scene — when he lived a four-hour drive away in Washington, Utah.

In addition to allegedly shooting Kirk, he is also accused of witness tampering, committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors have alleged Robinson targeted Kirk because of his political views, tried to conceal the rifle and the clothes he wore during the shooting and urged Twiggs to delete incriminating messages, destroy the note and stay silent if police questioned him.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea and won’t be required to do so unless prosecutors prevail at the preliminary hearing.

The top charge against him, aggravated murder, carries the potential death penalty.