By Nathan Frandino and Jimmy Urquhart
PROVO, Utah, July 7 (Reuters) – Utah prosecutors played a video on Tuesday that an investigator said showed the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk last year in a sniper’s position on the roof of a university campus building from which the prominent conservative activist was shot.
The evidence was presented during the second day of a preliminary hearing in Provo, Utah, in which prosecutors are trying to convince District Court Judge Tony Graf to bring Tyler Robinson, 23, to trial. Investigators allege he shot Kirk, 31, at Utah Valley University while the ally of President Donald Trump debated with students.
Robinson faces seven criminal charges, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty in one of the nation’s highest-profile homicide cases.
Utah investigator David Hull, testifying as the video was shown, said the images were recorded as the shot was fired, “and the individual then stands up and then moves across the building to the north.” Hull identified the person as Robinson.
The hearing, expected to last all week, is the first public test of prosecution evidence concerning Kirk’s September 10, 2025, assassination, one of a series of attacks that have intensified concern over U.S. political violence. Erika Kirk, his widow, was in the courtroom for a second day. She has taken over leadership of Turning Point USA, the influential youth conservative network her husband co-founded.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers have yet to comment on his guilt or innocence.
Dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts, blending in with students, Robinson made contact with representatives of Turning Point USA the day of the shooting, Hull said, citing surveillance video. He gave no further details on the interaction as the group set up for one of Kirk’s trademark events where he challenged college students to question his conservative views.
Video from September 10 also showed Robinson checking out access to the roof from where the shot was fired and having lunch at a fast-food restaurant at the university, Hull said.
In the first two days of the hearing, the defense has tried to raise doubt that Robinson was responsible by suggesting someone else may have been involved.
Lawyer Kathryn Nester asked Hull on Tuesday about a handgun found in a backpack on the campus after the shooting. Hull responded that investigators determined the handgun was not evidence in the case.
Another prosecution witness, Utah investigator Jennifer Faumuina, said FBI testing found Robinson’s DNA and his roommate Lance Twiggs’ DNA on a screwdriver recovered from the sniper position and a towel wrapped around a rifle believed to be the murder weapon.
Casting doubt on the results, defense lawyer Michael Burt called FBI forensic examiner Amanda Bakker as a witness and questioned her for over two hours on the reliability of the DNA tests she carried out on the evidence.
A possible motive was raised on Tuesday during arguments on whether a friend of Kirk could enter a statement into evidence.
The statement from Turning Point USA board member David Engelhardt says Kirk’s political views were informed by his religious beliefs.
Prosecutors said they believe Robinson targeted the activist because of Kirk’s religiously conservative stances on sexuality and gender. The defense said the conflation of religion and politics could prejudice potential jurors.
In texts to his roommate included in earlier court filings, Robinson said he killed Kirk because “I had enough of his hatred.” Prosecutors have quoted Robinson’s mother as saying his political views had moved left recently and he had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented.”
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Donna Bryson, Will Dunham and Lincoln Feast.)
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