Prosecutors in a Utah courtroom argued Tyler Robinson should go to trial for the aggravated murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk because they have substantial evidence proving his guilt.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride argued DNA and video evidence, as well as Mr. Robinson’s admissions, prove the 23-year-old shot and killed Kirk nearly a year ago on the campus of Utah Valley University
“We have in this case the classic circumstantial evidence of motive, means, and opportunity — and then some.”
Prosecutors made their case before Judge Tony Graf, who is expected to rule today whether the case should go to trial. If tried and convicted, Mr. Robinson faces the death penalty.
The arguments before Judge Graf came nearly two months after a preliminary hearing in which prosecutors showed extensive video evidence that tracked Mr. Robinson’s movement around the UVU campus on Sept. 10, the day Kirk held an event with students on the campus green, including his movement on the roof of the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
Prosecutors said the motive was political and sexual: Mr. Robinson was in a gay relationship and opposed Kirk’s conservative views.
“The defendant Tyler James Robinson shot and killed Charlie Kirk because he disagreed with him, and he did it by firing a high-powered rifle into a group of thousands who surrounded Charlie Kirk literally on all sides, and he, like any rational person, knew that that would create a great risk of death to all those around Charlie Kirk in the event of any one of a number of likely possibilities,” Mr. McBride said.
The defense argued that the evidence favoring a death penalty prosecution of Mr. Robinson fell short.
Families of both Mr. Robinson and Kirk, including Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, were present in the courtroom.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.