Utah County prosecutors argued that Tyler Robinson targeted conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as they urged Judge Tony Graf in a court filing on Tuesday to allow Robinson to stand trial on murder charges.
After a week of preliminary hearings earlier this month in a Utah court, state prosecutors offered a written brief to Graf late Tuesday, arguing why Robinson should go to trial and detailing the evidence presented to the court and testimony from witnesses at the earlier hearings. The prosecution offered its most concise argument yet for why it believes Robinson was the one who fatally shot the founder of Turning Point USA on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, and why Kirk was targeted for both his political and religious beliefs.
“The evidence thus establishes that Mr. Kirk represented not only a religious movement, but also a political movement against gay marriage and the accommodation and acceptance of transgenderism, homosexuality, and sexual experimentation. Defendant’s lifestyle, on the other hand, stood in sharp contrast to Mr. Kirk’s religious and political views,” the court filing said, noting Robinson’s romantic relationship with his male roommate, Lance Twiggs.
The brief pointed to text messages between Twiggs and Robinson and other evidence, which prosecutors argue show that Robinson’s “beliefs and practices pertaining to gender and sexuality were directly contrary to Mr. Kirk’s political and religious beliefs and practices.” The prosecution also discussed the engravings on the bullets found alongside the alleged murder weapon.
Photos of the bullet casings were presented at the preliminary hearing earlier this month, with various messages, including “notices bulge,” “owo whats,” and “this?,” along with “Hey fascist, catch,” among other phrases appearing to mock Kirk and reference online memes.
“This evidence supports a strong and eminently reasonable inference that Defendant targeted Mr. Kirk because of Defendant’s ‘belief or perception regarding [Mr. Kirk’s]’ ‘political expression,'” the brief filed Tuesday said.
Prosecutors told the judge that the case is “likely as straight-forward a bindover decision as this Court will ever see,” and that “this isn’t a close case.” The standard for allowing the case to proceed to trial is probable cause, rather than the standard of proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt if prosecutors want to win a conviction at trial.
Robinson’s lawyers will have until Aug. 18 to file a brief detailing why they believe there is not enough evidence for the case against their client to go to trial. Graf said the next hearing in the case will be Sept. 1, when he will hear closing statements from both sides and rule on whether to allow the case to go to trial.
THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM TYLER ROBINSON’S PRELIMINARY HEARING IN CHARLIE KIRK MURDER TRIAL
If the judge allows the case to proceed, Robinson will face multiple charges for his alleged assassination of Kirk that come with the maximum punishment of the death penalty, something prosecutors have said they intend to pursue. Robinson’s lawyers attempted to get the possibility of the death penalty off the table during a hearing last month, but Graf denied the motion.
Robinson’s trial is expected to be one of the most closely watched criminal cases of the year, after the public killing of Kirk sent shock waves through politics last year.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
