Proceedings in the capital murder case against Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, can be televised, a Utah judge ruled Friday, rejecting an effort by Robinson’s defense to bar cameras from the courtroom but granting a requested delay to preliminary hearings slated for later this month.
Robinson, 23, has not yet entered a plea and faces the death penalty if convicted.
His attorneys argued at an April hearing before Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf that a future jury pool had already been tainted by sensationalist media coverage surrounding Kirk’s death and the trial, and by statements from prosecutors and federal and state officials who had publicly declared Robinson’s guilt.
The case has attracted significant media attention, from both mainstream outlets and an emerging ecosystem of popular online conspiracist creators — including Kirk’s former friend and employee, Candace Owens — who are covering the proceedings from an avowedly biased position: that Robinson is not just innocent, but a patsy in a secret plot orchestrated by a powerful shadow cabal that includes the U.S. and foreign governments.
These conspiracy theories have been the subject of viral online content over the past seven months, spun up in videos and social media posts that can attract millions of views and have already crept into court hearings. State prosecutors, attorneys for Kirk’s widow, Erika, and a coalition of news organizations have cited the conspiratorial content in arguing that a ban on cameras would only worsen matters.
Prosecutors made the point in April.
“Mischief lurks in the dark,” said Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride. “Let’s shine a light on these proceedings, a bright light, so the public can have confidence in what happens in this courtroom.”
An expert witness called by the defense in April criticized what he described as speculative and sensationalist media coverage of the Robinson case thus far, characterizing it as inflammatory and sometimes overstating, mistating or making up details about events, evidence, Robison’s state of mind or character, and in general, furthering the prosecution’s narrative. The expert, Bryan Edelman, a California-based trial consultant, pointed to inflammatory statements from Donald Trump and former Attorney General Pam Bondi and calls for Robinson’s execution by other senior Trump administration officials.
Aside from allowing cameras, Graf also ruled on the defense’s request to delay a preliminary hearing, initially scheduled for May 18, at which prosecutors plan to present evidence of probable cause that the case should move to trial. Those hearings are now set to begin on July 6.
Robinson’s attorneys had asked for a monthslong delay to review thousands of files, hundreds of hours of video and terabytes of digital data turned over by prosecutors. The defense also said it could not proceed without the data from federal law enforcement agencies’ DNA analysis.
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Prosecutors opposed the delay, arguing the evidence was overwhelming, and in May, the state offered to proceed without the DNA evidence.
Judge Graf ruled a delay was “reasonable and necessary,” to protect Robinson’s constitutional rights.
According to court documents, prosecutors plan to call Robinson’s parents and his former roommate, Luna Twiggs, to testify at the preliminary hearing. They also plan to introduce dozens of exhibits including ballistics reports, surveillance video, phone and social media data, text messages and Kirk’s autopsy report.
Prosecutors previewed the state’s evidence at the April hearing.
McBride said surveillance video from Utah Valley University would show Robinson arriving on campus the morning of the shooting in his Dodge Charger, wearing his favorite Hurley hat, a maroon T-shirt, shorts and Converse sneakers. Video would show Robinson scouting the campus, returning later on foot in a disguise and with a rifle in his pants, making his way to a rooftop and taking the shot that killed Kirk, then dropping off the building and running into a wooded area where police later recovered a rifle wrapped in a towel.
McBride said the rifle contained one spent round and three unspent rounds, with inscriptions etched on them. After Robinson turned himself in, McBride said a search warrant executed at Robinson’s home turned up a Dremel tool and ammunition of the same make and model, including a round etched with the words “test shot.”
McBride also described what he called four separate confessions: a handwritten note Robinson allegedly left for Twiggs the morning of the shooting, a subsequent text exchange with Twiggs, a message to friends in an online group chat and a confession to an acquaintance, a former law enforcement officer, who helped Robinson turn himself in to the sheriff’s office.
Independent DNA testing by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on the rifle, the towel and a screwdriver recovered from the scene also produced matches to Robinson, McBride said, with “astronomical odds” against the DNA belonging to anyone else.
Brandy Zadrozny is a senior enterprise reporter for MS NOW. She was a previously a senior enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York.